


Daddy (Ashton Irwin)

by 13Fandoms



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer
Genre: 5SOS - Freeform, Alternate Universe - No 5 Seconds of Summer, Daddy Ashton, Daddy Kink, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-29 23:49:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 56,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8510518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13Fandoms/pseuds/13Fandoms
Summary: He just stood there staring at me. "Can I help you?" I asked gaining some confidence. "Yeah. You can start by sorting out these files, contacting these people, and getting me a coffee." He said dropping several folders on my desk. He started to walk out the door when I spoke again. "Who do you think you are?" I asked annoyed "I think that I'm Ashton Irwin, your new boss."-or- The one with the girl that falls for her boss even when she knows that she shouldn't.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The chapter numbers are messed up but like whatever.

***Liliana's POV***

"Annie wake the fuck up! You're going to be late!" my roommate, Shaylin, yelled. 

"Shut up! I have to be there by nine and it's only..." I paused looking at my phone. "8:40." 

I then laid back down, ready to continue my slumber. 

"Annie." Shaylin whispered. 

"Hmm."

"You have twenty minutes to get ready and get to work!" She yelled. 

"No! I told you that it's eight forty and I don't have to be there until nine. That gives me twenty min- oh my god I have to go like now!" I yelled. 

She laughed at me. "Idiot." 

"Shay, this isn't funny! It's my first day! If I'm late they'll fire me and I haven't even got my first paycheck!" I yelled still freaking out. 

"And you'll never get that first paycheck if you don't hurry!"

In my struggles to get up fast I fell out of bed, landing on my stomach. 

I groaned as I got up and ran to my closet. I looked through the whole damn thing before I found what I was looking for. 

I slipped on my outfit as quickly as possible and grabbed my keys. 

"You need shoes Annie!" Shaylin yelled as I was almost out the door. 

I quickly ran back and grabbed my heels from her hand. 

"Okay bye! Make good choices!" I yelled as I ran out the door. 

When I finally made it to my car, my luck was the opposite of good. There was traffic. So much traffic. 

I arrived at the office building and quickly ran in. 

"Ms. Brooks, we've been waiting for you." The receptionist said. 

"I'm so sorry." I replied. 

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." She said. 

"Right. So uh, where exactly will I be working?" 

"Thirteenth floor. Your office is the third door on the right. Here you'll need a card to get up there." She said handing me the card that I assumed would grant me access to the floor. 

"Thank you." I said and went to the elevators. 

A man stepped in at the same time I did. 

"What floor?" I asked politely. 

He looked at me as if I was an alien. 

"Thirteen." He said and I heard an accent. His voice was heavenly. 

"M- me too." I stuttered, awkwardly as I pressed the button. 

"I don't care to know your life story." He said rudely. 

"Sorry. I guess I'm just feeling nervous because it's my-" 

"Look, I don't care who you are or what you're feeling. You are no one to me!" He yelled and as soon as he finished, the elevator doors opened. 

He stepped out and I quietly stepped out behind him. 

I walked to my office with tears in my eyes. 

I sat down and waited for someone to give me some sort of work to do to distract me from my thoughts. 

My first day, and I was already hated by someone. It wasn't the best start I could've gotten, but I could make it work. I could pull through. 

Moments later I heard a knock at my open door. I looked up to see the man from the elevator. 

He just stood there, staring at me. 

"Can I help you?" I asked, gaining some confidence. 

"Yeah. You can start by sorting out these files, contacting these people, and getting me a coffee." He said dropping several folders on my desk. 

He started to walk out the door when I spoke again. 

"Who do you think you are?" I asked annoyed 

"I think that I'm Ashton Irwin, your new boss."

____________________  
~edited~ 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Published- September 4, 2014

***Liliana's POV***

"How have you been?" My boyfriend asked me as we drove to his friends house. 

"I've been fine. I've been at my new job for a week and I love it."

"That's nice, baby. Now you know the drill for tonight, correct?" He asked me. 

"Yes, Alex." I groaned. 

"Tone." He said sharply. 

"Sorry." I said and put my head down. 

"Am I right to assume that your attitude won't be a problem tonight?" He asked, looking at me. 

"Yes." I said quietly. 

"Good. We're almost there." He said, focusing on the road again. 

We soon arrived at the destination and I stepped out of the car. 

"Please stay calm tonight." I quietly begged him as we walked to the door.

"You know what to do if you want me to stay calm." He replied rudely before knocking. 

The door opened to reveal his friend Matt.

Matt was always my favorite of his friends. He hated how Alex treated me. 

"We're in the living room." He said as he let us in. 

"Hey Annie." He said and I offered him a smile. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone else but Alex unless he gave me permission.

It was kind of pointless for me to go with him anywhere if I had to stay quiet the whole time. 

Alex pushed me in front of him and growled in my ear "Remember what I said." 

I gave a quick nod and continued to the living room. 

I looked around the room and noticed that Kyle and Trevor were there too. 

"Sup guys." Alex said. 

They uttered some sort of greeting and continued playing some football game. 

I sat quietly on the couch beside Alex as they talked and took turns playing the game. 

"So Annie, how's your new job? Alex told us you work for Irwin Incorporated." Kyle said. 

I looked at Alex for permission to speak. He denied it. 

"She likes it fine." He answered for me. 

I sighed and the grip he had on my leg tightened. 

"Sorry." I whispered in his ear and the grip he had on my leg was loose again. 

"He asked Annie." Trevor said, annoyed. 

"Hey, babe, why don't you go get us some more beers? You know where the kitchen is." Alex said pushing me to the edge of the couch. 

"Okay." I said in a small voice. 

As soon as I walked away I heard Alex yelling at them saying that if he wanted to answer for me then he would. This is how it usually went. They got in a fight over how Alex treated me. 

I wasn't exactly sure why everyone else was so offended by it. I didn't mind it and I was happy with him. I loved him. 

I smiled at the thought of him actually saying that he loved me. He'd never said it before but I'm sure that he's meant to. We only went on one date before he asked me to be his girlfriend, and five and a half months later, here we are. 

"Annie!" Alex yelled. 

"Coming!" I replied. 

I quickly grabbed the beer from the fridge and walked back in the living room passing them out. 

A course of "Thanks Annie" rang throughout the room. They came from everyone but Alex, but it's not like I expected one anyways. 

It was then that I heard a cell phone ring. The ringtone was mine. 

"Annie your phone is ringing." Alex said as he reached in his pocket. 

"Who's this?" He asked. 

"I don't know." I replied seeing a 10 digit number on the screen. It wasn't one that I had seen before. 

I answered the phone "Hello." And Alex mouthed "Speaker." 

I did as he asked and waited for the caller to speak. 

"Annie I need you." The familiar accented voice said. 

"Excuse me?! Who are you and why do you 'need' my girlfriend?!" Alex shouted. 

"I'm Ashton and, Annie, I need you to come in for a while. I know it's your day off but Megan isn't as good as you so I sent her home." Ashton said. 

"What the hell are you good at?!" Alex yelled. 

"My job." I said calmly. "That's Ashton Irwin, my boss. Megan is the other intern there and she isn't the best at her job. He just needs me to do some work." I explained. 

"Annie you're quitting your job." Alex told me. 

"Mr. Irwin, I'll be there as soon as I can." I said remembering that he was on the phone still and then hanging up. 

"Annie we're leaving." Alex said, pulling me up. 

"Text me later." Matt mouthed as Alex pulled me away. 

I gave a nod and I was pulled out of the room and eventually the house. 

The grip Alex had on my wrist tightened. 

"Ow! Alex, let go you're hurting me." I said. 

He threw my wrist away from him. 

"How dare you talk to me like that in front of them? You are quitting your job and that's final." He said getting into the car. 

I followed suit looked at him. "You can't tell me what I'm going to do. I sacrifice a lot for you but honestly Alex it isn't worth it and I don't think that we're working anymore. I'm breaking up with you." I said. 

He slapped me. "I think you're forgetting who's in charge of who here." He said turning on the car. 

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. 

"I'm sorry for hitting you. I'll let you have your job, but that's the only thing you get." He sighed. 

"It's my fault. I'm sorry." 

"Let's just get you to your office so you can actually have your job." He laughed quietly trying to lighten the mood. 

"Thank you." I whispered. 

"Anything for you baby." He said leaning over and kissing my stinging cheek. 

___________________  
~edited~

So there's a little taste of Annie's current relationship with Alex. 

Stay crocs.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Published- October 7, 2014

"Mr. Irwin, we can't do this. I have a boyfriend." I said as he kissed my neck. 

"He doesn't have to know." He whispered huskily into my ear. 

He grabbed my thighs and lifted me onto his desk. 

"Daddy." I moaned as he bit down lightly on my sweet spot. 

"Annie, wake up." He said. He was telling me to wake up, but it wasn't his voice. It was girly.

"What?" I asked. 

"Annie, wake up!" He yelled and I opened my eyes. 

"Shaylin?" I asked. 

"Yes, Annie. It's Shaylin. Now wake the fuck up." She said. 

I looked at the clock and saw that it was six. 

"Why?" I asked. 

"Because I'm tired of hearing you moan in your sleep." 

"I- I what?" I said blushing. 

"Yes. You were moaning, and I didn't wanna hear it anymore." 

"Oh god." I groaned. 

"Why are you in my room?" I asked. 

"I was looking for shoes." She shrugged. 

"Get out!" I shouted. 

"Okay, okay." She said running out with a pair of my black vans. 

I groaned as my head hit my pillow again. Dreaming about my boss had become a regular thing. 

It had been two weeks since Alex hit me, and every night since, he had come over. Last night was no different. 

He didn't stay with me. He never stayed with me. After we had sex, or did something in that vicinity, he came up with some lame excuse, and he left. 

"I love you, Alex." I told him. 

"I'll see you tomorrow." He avoided my statement and left. 

"Happy six months." I sighed to myself. 

Last night was awful. Alex had been very forceful and in no way prepared me for anything. 

On top of all of that, he left a large love bite on my neck along with other parts of my body.

'You wouldn't exactly mind if Mr. Irwin left marks all over you.' My conscience added. 

And it was true. I wouldn't mind it. Not at all, but I had a boyfriend that I loved. 

"Shaylin!" I yelled. 

I got no answer, so I assumed that she had left for work already. 

I sighed as I got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom. 

I looked at myself in the mirror. Tired. I looked extremely tired. 

I stripped myself of my clothes and stepped into the shower making the water warm. 

I sighed once again and sat down. Yeah. I sit down in the shower sometimes. Deal with it. 

I thought about things for a bit before the water started getting cold. That's when I got up and did the things that you do while showering: sing the latest pop song that seems to just get stuck in your head no matter how much you hate it, curse at yourself when you cut your legs shaving, and imagining your boss in the shower with you. 

That last one shouldn't have been in there, but that doesn't change the fact that I did it. 

It was no secret that I was attracted to him. Well maybe it was a secret, but only a secret from Alex...and Shaylin...also Ashton. So maybe it was a secret, but that doesn't mean anything. 

People are attracted to other people. It happens, and nothing can be done about it. 

So I suppressed those feelings of want and need for my boss...for now at least. 

@@@@@@@

"Annie can I talk to you for minute?" Mr. Irwin said standing in the doorway to my office. 

I nodded and waited for him to talk. 

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." 

"For what?" I asked, confused. 

"The first day we met, I was such a jerk. I just wasn't having a good day. We lost one of our biggest investors and my girlfriend and I got in a fight and-" 

I cut him off. "It's fine." 

"But I treated you so badly and you've been nothing but nice to me so I want to make it up to you." He said. 

"Okay..."

"I want to take you out to lunch, right now." He said, surprising me. 

"What?" I asked, making sure I heard correctly. 

"You, me, lunch." He said slowly. 

"Sir, I have a boyfriend-" 

"Strictly business, Annie." He giggled. 

"I wasn't finished." I said before continuing. "And Alex gets very...jealous. The only reason I still have this job is because he felt bad for-" this time I cut myself off. 

"For..?" 

"Nothing, but I'm sorry. I can't go."

"That's a shame. I had some good news to tell you." He said and turned to walk out of my office. 

"Wait! What is it?" I asked. 

"You know, I don't remember. Perhaps lunch with a certain young lady by the name of Annie Brooks would jog my memory." 

I contemplated my options. I could go to this lunch and risk Alex finding out, or I could stay here and finish my work.

"I'll go." I stated, grabbing my purse. 

We got a few looks as we walked through the building. They were probably all wondering what the intern was doing with the head of the company. I was actually wondering that myself. 

When we were outside we walked to his car, which was parked right outside of the door, and began driving. 

I was slightly shocked when he told me where we were going. I was prepared for the name of a fancy restaurant, but instead he just said Shannon's Cafe. It was a place that I was very familiar with. 

"I've only been here once before but I thought that it would be nice." He said as we pulled up outside. 

He parked the car, and we went inside. 

We sat at a booth in the corner as we waited for our waitress to come and give us menus. 

"So, Mr. Irwin-" I began, but he cut me off. 

"Call me Ashton."

"Okay...Ashton, what's this good news that you were talking about?" 

"Oh, well-"

"Hi, I'm Shaylin, and I'll be your server today can I start you off with some drinks?" My roommate said looking down at her notepad. I cleared my throat and she looked up. "Annie?"

"I thought that your shift ended already." I said. 

"Uh yeah, but Ashley couldn't come in so I picked up her shift for a little extra money." 

"Oh." I said. 

"So Annie, who's your friend?" She asked me. 

"Uh...Ashton this is Shaylin, my roommate. Shaylin, this is Ashton Irwin, my boss."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Ashton." Shaylin said, sticking out her hand so he could shake it.  

He gently grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly. "The pleasure is all mine." He said. 

My jaw dropped as she giggled like a school girl with a crush. 

She took his order and left and I hoped that it was because she already knew what I wanted. 

Ashton was still smiling after she left, but I was just looking at him. 

There was no doubt in my mind that I was jealous, but why? He wasn't my boyfriend. He wasn't even my friend. He was my boss. 

"Annie, are you okay?" He asked me. I must've spaced out. 

"Fine." I said faking a smile. 

"Okay." He said smiling back. 

It was then that my phone started to ring. It was Alex. 

"Hello?" I answered. 

"Hey, babe. Where are you?" He said. 

"I uh...I'm-"

"Annie do not lie to me. I am currently sitting in your office." 

"I'm eating lunch." I said. 

"With who?" He asked harshly. 

"Mr. Irwin." I said in a soft voice. 

"I'll pick you up at eight." He said and hung up. 

I wasn't sure what was going to happen tonight but it wasn't going to be good. 

"Are you okay?" Ashton asked me. 

"I have to go. I'm sorry." I said getting up and running, as best as I could in heels, out of the restaurant. 

***Ashton's POV***

Shaylin came back with the food only moments after Annie left. 

"Where is she?" Shaylin asked. 

"I- I don't know. She was on the phone one minute and the next she was gone." I said. 

"Alex." She said with an angered look on her face. 

"Alex?" I asked. 

"Alex." She said once again. 

"And Alex is..." I trailed off. 

"Oh! It's her dumb, overprotective, douchebag, control freak, man whore boyfriend." She said with hate filled eyes. 

"That's a lot of adjectives for one man." I said laughing lightly. 

"I hate him." She said. 

"Why?" 

"He's just so...so...ugh! I can't even describe why I hate him so much! He's just a jerk." She said sounding frustrated. 

I reached in my wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill and set it on the table. 

"That should cover the bill, and keep the rest for a tip. It was nice meeting you, but I have to go and run a company again." I said and got up to leave. 

"Thank you so much." Shaylin said in disbelief. 

"Anything for a friend." I said and left. 

@@@@@@@

***Liliana's POV*** 

"Mine. You're fucking mine." Alex said with every thrust into me. 

"I'm yours. All yours." I whined. 

"Fuck." He breathed as he bit down on my shoulder. He was close. 

It wasn't long until he pulled out and came on my stomach. 

He laid down next to me for a couple minutes before getting up and going to take a shower. 

When I heard the water running for a minute, he called for me. 

"Come on, Annie." He said. 

I stood up and limped to the bathroom where he stood, waiting for me. 

He stepped in and offered a hand to help me get in. 

After I got in, he pulled me into a hug. 

"I'm sorry for being so rough." He said in a soft voice. 

"It's alright." I whispered. 

"You just mean so much to me and you know that I hate it when you're with other guys." 

"I know, but he's my boss. Nothing has or ever will happen between us." 

"I just don't want to lose you." He said, kissing my wet hair. 

"I love you, Alex." I said, hugging him tighter. 

"I know, baby. I know." He said, and we started to do the things that normal couples do while taking a shower together. 

He washed my hair and body while telling me how beautiful I was. 

It was moments like these that I lived for. The moments when he treated me like I was his world and he wasn't jealous. 

That was the Alex that I fell in love with. 

Eventually, all good things come to an end, and this good thing didn't last for long. 

______________________  
~edited~

Stay crocs.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Published- November 2, 2014

"Do you really have to go?" I asked Shaylin as I hugged her. 

"Yes." She said, prying my arms off of her. 

"But who's going to make me that awesome five star gourmet meal that you always do?" I whined. 

"Annie, I make you two things; cereal and macaroni and cheese. Neither of those things qualify as five star or gourmet." 

"Please don't leave me!" I begged. 

"I'll only be gone for a week." She said walking out of the door. 

"So your mom decides to get remarried and you leave me? I thought that what we had was special!" I yelled, running down the hallway of the apartment building. She had just stepped in the elevator when I got to her. 

"Call me everyday." I said sadly. 

"Goodbye, Annie!" She said in annoyance as the elevator door closed. 

It was then that I realized how foolish I probably looked. 

A nineteen year old girl standing in a hallway wearing fuzzy pink shorts and an oversized shirt with a unicorn on it. Not to mention the fact that I had awful bed head. 

When I slept I didn't stay in one spot, ever. I tossed and turned all night. I slept well, but I moved a lot. 

I'll admit that my sleeping attire was a bit childish, but I would be turning twenty soon and I just wanted to cherish the moments that I had, as a kid, left. 

I sadly walked back to my apartment and closed the door behind me. To most people, not seeing their best friend for a week wasn't a big deal. She's been my best friend since we were fifteen, and we've been inseparable since we moved in together. 

I met her on vine. It sounds sketchy, but it's not that bad. I commented on one of her vines, and then everything took off from there. We talked every day, but she lived in a different state. 

We didn't meet until we were seventeen. We went to California for Vidcon and had the time of our lives at Disney Day. 

It was at the end of that trip that we decided to move to California after graduation. 

Shaylin goes to college, but I already finished. I was an overachiever in high school. During my freshman year, I was taking sophomore and junior classes. I got all of my necessary high school credits to graduate and immediately started on college. 

After long summers full of online schooling and school years full of nonstop working, I only had to take one year of actual college. 

I finished that a few months ago, so that's where we are now. Shaylin in school and working part time as a waitress and me working full time as a paid intern. Sometimes things were hard, but we managed. 

My phone starting ringing when I got into my room and I groaned. Who calls at nine in the morning on a Saturday? 

I looked at the screen and saw 'Mr. Irwin' with the princess emoji behind it. 

"Hello?" I answered. 

"Liliana Brooks, just the girl I wanted to talk to." He said happily. 

"No one ever calls me that." I said smiling. 

"I was afraid you weren't going to answer."

"Well I did."

"Come to the office." He said. 

"But...it's my day off." I said. 

"I know, but I have a meeting today and I want you to come. I think it would really help you when you decide to further your career." 

"Okay, I'll be there in an hour." I said. 

"See you then." He said and hung up. 

I appreciated the fact that he did things like this. It was nice to know that he wanted to help me get ahead in business. 

I walked over to my closet and looked for something to wear, but nothing seemed right. It was one of those days that nothing was right. 

I couldn't find any breakfast that sounded good, nothing good was on tv, and none of my clothes were good enough. 

I walked to Shaylin's room and looked in her closet for something. It was then that I came across a simple black dress. It was a little short and the neckline was cut a little low, but I liked it. 

I took off my current clothing and put the dress on. I then went to my room and found some sheer tights with black lace design on the side, and put those on along with black heels. 

Though my outfit looked great, my hair and face did not. I looked oddly pale, and my hair was everywhere. 

I took my time in brushing and curling my hair. Once I found it satisfactory, I applied some makeup. Not so much that I looked like a five year old colored my face, but enough that I didn't look pale and I actually looked presentable. 

I grabbed my keys and purse and walked out of the door, locking it behind me. 

When I got to my car I thought about what kind of things would happen in the meeting. 

Would they ask me questions or would I just be getting everyone coffee? 

I sang along with the songs on the radio until I got to the office building. 

I said hi to Veronica, the receptionist, and made my way up to my office. I wasn't sure why, but I was getting nervous. 

What if they did ask me questions? How would I answer them? What if they actually wanted coffee? How would I remember the orders? What would happen if I messed everything up? 

I dropped my purse off at my office and walked to Mr. Irwin's. 

I knocked on the closed door before hearing his voice say come in. 

When I opened the door, I saw him sitting at his desk, but he wasn't the only one in there. There was a blonde and a brunette sitting in the chairs in front of his desk. They weren't dressed up. 

"Liliana!" He said cheerfully. 

"Mr. Irwin!" I said, mocking his cheerful tone. 

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He smiled. I wasn't sure how to answer, so I remained silent but he continued to talk. "You look great today." 

"Thank you." I blushed. 

"Come here. Please, sit!" He said. 

He was acting odd. He almost seemed too happy today. 

I sat in between the blonde and the brunette. It wasn't like I had much of a choice, that was the only seat left. 

The carpet became my main point of focus. I was well aware that the two boys sitting beside me were staring. 

"Well don't be creeps. Introduce yourselves." Mr. Irwin said. 

"I uh, I'm Luke." The blonde one said with a smile, and I noticed his lip ring. He was handsome. 

I turned my head to look at the brunette. 

"The names Hood. Calum Hood." He said taking my hand in his and kissing it. 

I laughed and pulled my hand out of his. 

"I'm Liliana, but you can call me Annie." I said. 

I turned back to Ashton just as another man walked through the door. He was wearing black skinny jeans, black boots, and a shirt that said 'idiot' on it. He didn't notice me because he was doing something on his phone. 

"Had to go to three fucking stores for this shit." The man said. 

"Come on Mike, don't swear in front of the lady." Luke said. 

"Lady?" He said, looking up. He walked over to me and put the bag that he was carrying on Mr. Irwin's desk. 

"I'm Liliana, but you can call me Annie." I said politely. 

"I'm Michael, but you can call me your next boyfriend." He said with a smirk. 

"Let's just stick with Michael." I said, laughing a little. 

This caused everyone else to laugh too. 

"She's funny, pretty, and smart if she works here. I like her,Ash." Calum said and I blushed.

"Yeah. She seems pretty cool no wonder you talk about her so much." Luke said, and Mr. Irwin gave him a deadly glare. 

"I just mean that he talks about work a lot, and you work with him, so he talks about you a lot. Not that he talks about you that much it's just-" 

"Luke!" Calum said. "Just shut up."

"Sir?" I said quietly. 

"Yeah." He replied. 

"When is the meeting?" I asked. 

"This is the meeting." He said. 

"This?" 

"Yeah. This." 

"What kind of meeting is this?" I asked. 

"A band meeting." Calum chimed in. 

"A what?" I asked confused. 

"Ash didn't tell you?" 

"No?"

"We're 5 Seconds of Summer!" Michael yelled. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know what that is." I said looking back at Mr. Irwin. 

"We were 5 Seconds of Summer." He said. "In college we made a band, wrote a few songs, and then came to LA together thinking that we could become famous. Unfortunately, no one really liked us so we didn't take off." 

"You? In a band?" I asked trying not to laugh. 

"Yeah! I was the drummer. I was so punk rock."

I couldn't control my laughter anymore. 

"You couldn't be punk rock even if you tried!" I said. 

"Oh trust me, we tried." Michael said. 

"We pretty much wore the same clothes as we do now. Are you telling me that I don't look punk rock?" Luke spoke. 

"Luke, honestly, you look like a teenager trying to rebel against his parents." 

"What about me?" Calum asked. 

"Calum, you're a teddy bear." I said, giggling. 

"Calum always was the cuddliest." Mr. Irwin said. 

I looked up at him questioningly. 

"It's not what you think. We didn't have money to buy a house yet, so we were stuck in a cheap motel sharing beds. I bunked with Calum a lot. Woke up in his arms every time." He said. 

I started laughing again, but this time I couldn't stop. I imagined the look of confusion on his face whenever he first woke up in Calum's arms. 

It was a good five minutes before I finally calmed down. 

"Okay." I sighed wiping the tears from the corner of my eyes. "What now? Do you guys need coffee or lunch or something?" 

"Annie you're here as my friend today, not my intern." Mr. Irwin said. 

"But Sir-" 

"Call me Ashton." He said. 

I rolled my eyes and said "Ashton, I have plans today, so I can't stay all day." 

"What plans?" He said. 

"Not that it's any of your business, but Alex is coming over." I said. 

"Oh." He sighed. "Speaking of Alex, after you left during lunch last week, Shaylin told me about him."

"What'd she say?" I asked. 

"She just used a few adjectives to describe him that weren't very...nice." 

I groaned. "Honestly I don't know why she doesn't like him. He's such a good boyfriend, and he's nice to her most of the time. She just provokes him sometimes. It's not his fault. He can't help it!" My voice got a little bit higher during the last part. 

"Annie, calm down." Luke said. 

I tried to blink away the tears that came to my eyes. 

"Hey hey, it's alright." He said hugging me. 

I'm not sure why I was so upset, but I was. It could've been because Alex was a good boyfriend and he was a kind person. He just had some moments when he was jealous or he got too mad. He couldn't help that. 

I was just tired of defending him. I knew the kind person that he was and I loved him. 

A few minutes later, I had calmed myself down. 

"Thanks Luke." I said sniffling. 

"Annie." Ashton spoke softly. 

"Yeah?" I asked. 

"I didn't mean to make you upset." 

"It wasn't you. I've just been stressed lately. I'm fine now."

"Well now it's time for the real reason that you came here." He said. 

"I thought I came here because you wanted me to meet Calum, Luke, and Michael." I said confused. 

"Well, they are pretty cool dudes, but that's not the reason." 

"Then what is?"

"I'm promoting you." He smiled. 

"What?" 

"You're now my executive assistant." 

"Does this mean that I don't have to get coffee and lunch for everybody?" 

"Yep. You don't answer to anyone unless their name is Ashton Fletcher Irwin." His smile got bigger. 

"Your middle name is Fletcher?" I asked. 

"Yeah."

"Mine is Thomas." Calum said with a small smile. 

"So when do I start?" I asked. 

"Monday, you have the same office and we can talk about more of the technical stuff then. But for now..." He trailed off reaching into the bag on his desk and pulled out...chocolate milk? 

"Chocolate milk party!" They all yelled. 

Michael started playing music on his phone, and they started to dance. 

"Chocolate milk party it's a chocolate milk party!" Ashton yelled dancing around. 

"Come on Annie!" Luke said pulling me up from my seat and handing me a bottle of chocolate milk. "Join our chocolate milk party!" 

I don't know what came over me, but I stood up with them and started dancing around yelling "It's a chocolate milk party."

We did that until we heard the door open. In walked Megan. 

They stopped the music and we stood still. 

"Hello." Ashton said in a serious voice. "Did you need something?"

"Uh, Katie is here to see you." she said. 

"Right, uh just give me a minute." He said. "Hey you guys should go. Annie, I'll see you Monday." 

"Yeah. Okay great." I said. 

I'm not sure what came over me but I walked over and hugged him. 

"Thank you so much." I said. 

I felt his arms wrap around me as we stood in the embrace. 

"No problem." He said into my hair. 

"Okay." I said pulling away. "I'll see you later." 

I gave Michael, Luke, and Calum quick hugs before leaving the building. 

During the car ride home, I wondered who Katie was. 

It was probably his girlfriend, and that's why he wanted us to leave. 

I wondered if his girlfriend was ever jealous of me but I quickly dismissed that thought. She probably didn't even know that I existed. 

I arrived to the apartment building and went up to my apartment. 

When I walked in, the TV was on. 

"Shaylin?" I asked warily. 

I walked to the living room and saw Alex sitting on the couch. 

"Oh god, Alex you scared me." I said. 

"Where were you?" He asked. 

"I had a meeting at work." I said. It was true though it wasn't the whole truth. "I got a promotion."

"That's great babe!" He said getting up. 

He hugged me but then pushed me away. He came closer once again, smelling my clothes. 

"Annie, who the fuck were you with?" 

"I told you, I was at work." 

"You smell like cologne." He stated. 

From Ashton and the rest of the boys. 

"God damn it, Annie!" He said, throwing the lamp off of the table. "We were having a good time this past week, but you had to ruin it." 

He said walking closer to me. 

I tried backing up, but I hit the wall. 

Alex was mad, and I was in trouble. 

______________________  
~edited~

Okay I seriously laughed so hard when I called Michael a man. It was so hard trying to make them to where they weren't little bundles of cupcakey joy. 

I hope you like the chapter! Love you all. 

Stay crocs.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"A- Alex please calm down." I begged him. 

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" He said angrily. 

I said nothing but watched him pace around the room with tears in my eyes. 

"Tell me Liliana, do you like to make me mad? Is that what you want? You just want me mad all the time?" He yelled. 

"N- no." I stuttered. 

"Then why do you always do shit that pisses me off?" He continued yelling at me. 

"I- I don't m- mean to. I'm s- sorry." 

He punched the wall by my head and I yelped. 

"Say it." He said. 

"Say what?" I asked. 

"Say that you're a whore. Having sex with a bunch of guys like the fucking slut that you are. I think that that classifies you as a whore now. Am I wrong?" He asked. 

"I d- didn't have s- sex with anyone else." I cried. 

"Then what the fuck did you do Annie because that cologne isn't mine and you know it?" 

"I just hugged him." I said quietly. 

"Who Annie?" He hissed. When I didn't answer he repeated himself. "Who did you hug?"

"M- Mr. Irwin." I whispered. 

"Call him." He said. 

"What?" 

"Call him. Now." 

"What? Why?" I asked. 

"You're going to call him and tell him that you have a boyfriend and you don't want to fuck him."

"No." I whispered. "I'll get fired." 

His hand came across my face, hitting my eye. I held it as I felt my face sting. 

"Fucking now!" He yelled. 

"Okay. Okay!" I cried. 

I got my phone from my purse and found Ashton. I pressed his name and it began to call. 

"Put it on speaker." Alex said. 

I did as told and Ashton picked up moments later. 

"Hey. Sorry about-" 

"Mr. Irwin, I- I-" I tried telling him but I couldn't. 

"Tell him Annie. Now!" Alex growled lowly. 

"What's going on?" Ashton said. 

I sobbed loudly before the words came out of my mouth. "I- I have a boyfriend." I said. 

"And?" Alex said. 

"And I don't want to have sex with you." I said. 

"Now say goodbye." Alex said. 

"Goodbye Mr. Irwin." 

He grabbed the phone and hung it up as I tried to stop crying. 

"Alex I'm going to lose that job and I need money!" I said. 

"Then get a different fucking job." He said. 

"No matter where I work, there will always be a guy there. You need to control yourself." I said. Tears were still running down my face but my voice was calmer than I expected it to be. 

"You want me to control myself?" He asked. 

"Yes." I said quietly. 

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you kept your goddamn legs closed!" He yelled. 

"It was a hug!" I yelled back. 

He hit my cheek before walking across the room. He looked at me with an awful grin on his face. 

"A hug?" He laughed sarcastically. "Just an innocent hug right?"

"Alex just calm down." I said. 

He moved closer to me but I started to back up, my body once again hitting the wall. 

"Alex you're scaring me." I whispered. 

"Good." He growled. 

"Please just stop."

He grabbed my throat and continued to talk. 

"When are you going to fucking learn that you are mine. I own you. You listen to me when I tell you to do things." 

"Alex-" I struggled to say before he put his hand over my mouth. 

"Shut up! God do you ever shut up?" He yelled. 

I was having trouble breathing. 

I put my hands on his and tried to pull it away. 

"What? You want me to move my hand?" He asked and I nodded as best as I could with him holding my head down. 

"Why? Can't breathe?" 

I shook my head but stopped because my vision was becoming blurry and my head started to spin. 

I blinked a couple of times before my eyes got heavier. 

My hands fell from Alex's and everything turned black. 

***Ashton's POV***

"Who was it?" Katie asked. 

"Annie." I said thinking. 

"Are you serious?" she said to me. 

"What?" 

"She has your cell phone number?" 

"Well yeah. How else would we be able to talk?" I said confused as to why she was making such a big deal out of this. 

"You aren't supposed to talk outside of work Ashton!" She yelled. 

"We don't! I might have told her to have a good day once or twice. But that's all I swear." I said. 

"Why don't you tell me to have a good day?" She asked. 

"I do. All the time. And I tell you that I love you. Is that not enough?" 

"It's more than enough, but everything for the past month is Annie this Annie that. 'Annie did the funniest thing today.' 'Hey Katie guess what Annie said.' I swear she's the only thing that you ever talk about anymore."

"Why is this such a big deal? We're friends. So what?"

"She. Is. A. Girl." 

"You're friends with Charlie." I defended myself. 

"Charlie's gay!" She yelled. 

"That doesn't mean anything okay. Annie has a boyfriend and she loves him. And I love you. I don't see the big deal." 

"I just get insecure sometimes." She sighs. 

"You have no reason to be." I said. 

"When did Annie start working here?" She asked me. 

I thought for a moment. It seemed like I've known Annie for years but in reality it's only been about a month. 

"A month ago?" I said questionably. 

"Great." She mumbled. 

"What?" 

"That was when we fought about-"

"Yeah. I remember. Please don't bring it up." I cut her off. 

"Are you still attracted to me?" She asked. 

"What yeah. Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

She came up to me and kissed my neck. "Then let's have some fun." She said seductively. 

"Katie no." I said. 

"Why not?" She asked. 

"I'm not in the mood." 

"Not in the mood? You're never 'in the mood' anymore. What the hell is wrong with you Ashton?" she said raising her voice. 

"So I don't wanna have sex sometimes. It's not uncommon." 

"A month." 

"What?" 

"We haven't had sex for a month." 

"Okay and?"

"Annie's been here for a month!" 

"What are you trying to say?" I asked. 

"You're cheating on me." She said. 

"You honestly think that I'm cheating on you?" 

"Well all signs are pointing to yes!" She said loudly. 

"But I'm saying no!" I replied raising my voice. 

"How am I supposed to trust you when you never talk to me? I want a boyfriend not a booty call. And even if I did just want that, you'd be doing a terrible job." She said with tears in her eyes. 

"Get out." I said sharply. 

"What?" 

"Get. Out."

"Why?" She asked. 

"Because I don't want to say anything that I'll regret." 

And with that, she was gone. 

Out of all the things that should've been on my mind, the only thing that I could think of was Annie. 

She sounded scared on the phone. I think that she was crying. But why? And why was she telling me that she had a boyfriend? I knew that. I respected that. I knew she didn't want to have sex with me, as long as she had a boyfriend anyways. 

Whatever the case, I hoped that she was okay. 

@@@@@@@@@@@

***Lillian's POV***

I groaned rolling over in my bed. My bed? I felt around for the stuffed rabbit that I always kept by my pillows, and it was there. But how did I get here?

I couldn't remember what happened exactly. Just that Alex and I were fighting and then, well, now. 

I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was in fact in my room, but why? 

I sat up faster than I should have because I got dizzy and my head started to pound. 

I got up and walked to my kitchen to get some aspirin. Before I got there, I saw Alex sitting on the couch in the living room with his head in his hands. 

"Alex?" I said quietly though the sound still made my head hurt. 

"Annie!" He said loudly. 

He ran over and hugged me and I became very confused. 

"What happened?" I asked holding my still pounding head. 

"You fell down and hit your head and you passed out." He said pulling away from the hug. 

"How long was I out for?" I asked. 

"A few hours." He replied. 

I said nothing else but got the aspirin. I started to feel sick. 

After I took it, I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. 

I gasped at what I saw. 

A light purple bruise had formed on my neck. But that's not the only bruise that I had. My cheek and eye had bruised, and my lip was busted. 

I walked back to the living room and stared at Alex in disbelief. He had never left a bruise like this on me before. 

Everything came flooding back to me. I hadn't fallen and passed out. I passed out and then fell. Though I didn't just pass out, I passed out because Alex choked me. He actually choked me. The hitting I could handle, he just got mad sometimes, but this was too much. He could've killed me. 

"Alex." I whispered. 

"Annie I'm so-" 

"No. You're going to listen to me this time." I said and expected him to yell at me, but he just nodded his head. 

"I take a lot of shit from you Alex. You get angry way too quickly, you're overly jealous, and you don't treat me like you should sometimes. Despite all of that, I love you. I love you so much that it hurts me. But this, this is too much. You could've killed me." 

"I know. And I'm so sorry. I just get so jealous. I can't control myself sometimes. You know that." 

"I do know that. That's why I'm forgiving you."

"Thank you so much. I promise it'll never happen again. I swear I-" 

"But you have to do some things for me." I said. 

"Anything."

"First, I want you to get help. Go to some anger management classes. Please."

"I'll think about it." He said. 

"And as much as it hurts me to say this, we need to take a break." I said with tears in my eyes. 

"What?" He said shocked. 

"A break. We need a break. You need to learn how to control yourself and I just need some time." 

"But you love me." He said sadly. 

"I do love you. This is why we need to take a break. Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

"H- how long?" He stuttered with tears in his eyes. 

This was the first time that I've seen him cry. He was always so strong and confident. But not now. Now, he was weak and looked broken. 

"A few weeks at most." I said. 

"Weeks?" He asked his voice cracking. 

"Yeah. I think that this could really help us." 

"So what now?"

"You should go." I said and he got up. 

He hugged me tight before kissing my forehead. "I'll miss you Annie." 

"It's only for a couple of weeks, but I'll miss you too. Goodbye Alex. I love you." I said letting him go. 

He left then. He looked so sad. I almost couldn't do it but I knew that it had to happen. 

I walked over and laid down on the couch. My headache had somewhat died down, but my heartache grew. 

I missed him already. But I had to be strong. I had to stay away. For a week at least. 

I stared at the the ceiling for a few minutes before closing my eyes. 

I was almost asleep when I heard a knock on the door. 

I slowly sat up and my head throbbed again. 

I looked through the peephole, but whoever it was wasn't standing in front of it. 

"Who is it?" I asked. 

That's when I heard a quiet sob. Alex had come back. 

Opened the door. "Alex I told you I-"

But it wasn't Alex who stood at my door. The quiet sob wasn't from my boyfriend. The quiet sob was from my boss. 

There stood Ashton with red puffy eyes. 

________________________

I want to thank you all for reading this. I'm really trying my best to write this so it isn't complete shit. 

Love you all!!!

Stay crocs.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Ashton what are you doing here?" I asked surprised. 

"I didn't know who else to come to." He said in a small voice. 

"What happened?" I asked letting him in. 

"Katie and I got in a fight." He told me. "She said she wanted a boyfriend not a booty call."

So Katie was his girlfriend. 

We walked over the the couch and sat down.

"I've been such a good boyfriend to her." He said. "I tell her that I love her and to have a good day and I talk to her all the time." More tears slid down his face. 

"Let me go change and then we can talk, okay?" I asked. 

"Alright." He said quietly. 

***Ashton's POV***

I sat on her couch and waited. It was the first time that I have ever been to Annie's apartment. 

I was a total creep and looked up her address in the work files. 

It smelled nice in here. It looked nice in here. It was nice in here. It felt like home. 

My apartment wasn't like this. Not that it smelled bad and wasn't nice. Just that it wasn't like home. My apartment didn't give me that feeling of knowing that you were exactly where you belonged. 

It wasn't long until Annie came back dressed in some sweatpants and shirt that said Dirty Pig on it. I would have to ask her about it later. 

It wasn't until then that I looked at Annie. I really looked at her. 

Her beautiful face was bruised, her lip busted. She had a light bruise on her neck as well. 

I had stopped crying and looked at her seriously. 

"Annie what happened?" I asked. 

"Nothing." She said quickly. 

"Liliana."

"It's nothing I'm fine."

I gave her a stern look. 

"Okay fine. I walked to the store down the street and some guy mugged me. It's not a big deal." She said quickly. 

"What happened?" 

"Well, I started walking and when I got about half way there, some guy asked for my money. I told him no, but he pulled me into an alley and hit me. He choked me until I gave him what I had. I guess I passed out because I woke up on the ground. I may have hit my head because it's hurts. I took some aspirin I think. But now I'm fine." She explained. 

"You hit your head?" I asked. 

"Yeah. Maybe." 

"Come on." I said getting up. 

"What where?"

"To the hospital." 

"Why?" She said with a panicked look. 

"To get you checked out." 

"I don't need to go. I'm fine." 

"You passed out."

"But I'm fine and I can't afford to go anyways." 

"Annie, I will pay for you. Now come on. We're going even if I have to carry you out of here." 

She reluctantly walked over to the door and put on a pair of shoes and waited at the door. 

"You're not paying for me, but I'll go." She said pouting. 

I smiled at her. Even bruised up she was cute. 

"Alright. Let's go." I said. 

After locking her door, riding the elevator downstairs, and walking to my car, we were off. 

I tried to think of the hospital near here. 

"Annie do you know a-" I looked over and saw her sleeping. 

I decided to just take her to the one by my apartments. 

I hummed softly to the music on the radio while I drove. 

It wasn't long until we reached the hospital. I searched for a parking spot for what seemed like hours. Finally I spotted a car pulling out of its space. I pulled in and parked the car then took off my seatbelt. 

"Annie wake up." I said shaking her shoulder gently. 

She groaned and pushed my hand away. 

I signed and got out of the car walking over to her side. 

I carefully opened her door making sure to not let her fall out. 

It was going to be hard taking her out of the car. She was sleeping at a weird angle. 

I awkwardly leaned in the car and wrapped my arms around her. I was careful not to hit her head. 

Once she was in my arms securely, I closed the door and locked my car. 

"Annie. You have to wake up or they'll think it's a lot worse than it is." I said. 

"What's worse than it is?" She asked sleepily. 

"Your head. Wake up." I said setting her down. 

"Right." She whispered. 

She held her head as we walked, so I assumed that it was hurting her. 

I wrapped my arm around her waist to help steady her. 

We walked through the doors and up to the desk. 

"How can I help you?" The receptionist said. 

"My uh, my girlfriend walking to the store and she got mugged. He hit her, choked her, and she passed out. She said she hit her head when she passed out." I said. 

It was odd saying girlfriend when referring to Annie. I knew that they wouldn't keep me updated on things if I was just her friend, and it was a long shot being just her "boyfriend", but my chances were a bit higher if I got a sympathetic nurse. 

They took her back into a room and got her vitals before she returned to me. We sat in the waiting room for nearly an hour before someone called her name. 

"Liliana Brooks." A nurse said coming out of double doors with a wheelchair. 

"I can walk." Annie spoke quietly. 

"Sorry doll, hospital policy." She said. 

Annie looked at me and then cautiously sat down in the chair. 

I walked back with her to the room that she was wheeled to. 

The nurse handed her a gown. 

"Change into this and the doctor will be in soon." She said and left the room closing the curtain and door. 

She held the light blue material in her hand for a minute before turning to me. 

"Don't look." She said before facing the wall opposite of me. 

She took off her sweatpants and shirt first before putting the gown on. 

She took off her bra without taking the gown off. It amazed me how girls did that. 

She turned around then and walked over to me. She handed me her clothes and then turned around.

"Will you tie those?" She asked. 

"Yeah." 

I reached up and tied the first knot before making my way to the second. 

My fingers grazed her back and bumps rose on her skin. 

I bit my lip and finished tying the knots. 

She walked over and sat on the bed. The silence that we sat in wasn't an awkward one. 

She looked nervous sitting on the bed. She twiddled her thumbs while biting her lip. She was thinking about something. 

"What's on your mind?" I asked. 

"Nothing." She said quickly. 

"Annie." I frowned. 

"It's nothing. Honestly. I'm just trying to think of how I'm going to pay for this." 

"I told you I had it covered." I said. 

"I can't let you pay for me. This is going to be a fortune." 

"Yes. A very small fortune that I have to give to you. It's fine honestly." 

"Why did you say that you were my boyfriend?" She said suddenly. 

"I wanted to make sure that I was allowed back here and they would keep me updated." 

"Oh."

"Speaking of boyfriend, why wasn't Alex with you. I thought you said he was coming over."

"We uh, we're uh, I- I told him that we needed a break." She said. 

"So you guys are like...broken up?" I asked. 

"I guess. Kinda. For a few weeks at least." She said quietly. 

"Oh, well, are you okay?" I asked. 

"Beside the fact that I'm in the emergency room? Yeah. I'm fine." 

I opened my mouth to say more, but there was a knock on the door. 

The doctor walked in. 

"Hello, I'm Dr. Stone. I'll be taking care of you today. What seems to be ailing you?" He said sitting down on a small stool. 

"I hit my head." Annie said. 

"Is that all that happened? You look pretty bruised up." 

"I got mugged. He hit me and choked me and I passed out. I woke up and my head hurt. I took some aspirin when I got home."

"How long ago did this happen?" He asked. 

"A few hours." She said and looked at her hands. 

"Okay. Well let's just get you checked out and then I'll ask you a few questions." He said. 

He got up and walked over to her. He tilted her head up and looked at her neck. 

"He did quite a number on you. Are you looking to file a police report?" He asked. 

"No." She mumbled. 

"Annie you have to file a report." I said. 

"I don't even remember what he looked like. It would be useless. I'm not filing a report and I mean it. I'm not budging on this one." She said. 

The was still examining her before he started asking her questions. 

He asked her if she knew what the date was, what time it was, her full name, who the first president was, what she had for dinner last night, and what the capital of the United States was. 

He asked her some more questions like that, but I zoned out. He left for a few minutes and we waited quietly for him to return. 

The doctor came back in and looked at me. 

"Will you be the one caring for her?" He asked. 

"Yeah." 

"Okay, well as I said before, I'm going to prescribe some pain relievers for when her head starts hurting. The concussion shouldn't last longer than two weeks. Since hers isn't severe, it'll probably only be a week. If her symptoms get worse then you can take her to a regular doctor or come back here if you prefer. For the next few days she needs to rest. She might be sensitive to light and sound, so I'll give her an excuse for work and other than that you'll be good to go as soon as those release papers and prescription are brought in by the nurse."

"She doesn't need a work excuse." I said. 

He looked at his clipboard. "It says here that she's employed." 

"I'm her boss."

The nurse from earlier walked in at that time. 

"How's the happy couple?" she asked. 

"Couple?" The doctor said. 

"I'm her boyfriend and her boss alright. It's complicated. Can we please get the prescription and release papers so we can leave?" I said frustratedly. 

The nurse nodded handing over the papers. 

"Have a nice day and...good luck." The nurse said. 

"You too." Annie said and they both left the room. 

I handed Annie her clothes and waited for her to get dressed. Once she was finished, we left that awful place. 

"Where are you going?" She asked as we turned down the street to my apartment complex. 

"To my place." 

"Why?" 

"Because your head is hurt and you need someone to take care of you." 

"I'm fine." She said. 

"You also said that you didn't need to go to the hospital but guess who has a concussion." I said pulling into the parking lot. 

She was quiet as we walked through the lobby and to the elevator. 

When we got to my apartment, I unlocked the door and opened it for her. 

"Welcome to my humble abode." I said walking in behind her. 

"It's nice." She said. 

"I would give you the grand tour but there's not much to see. There's two bedrooms but one is my office so I'll be sleeping on the couch and you can have my bed." 

"No. I'll be fine on the couch." 

"Honestly, I like the couch better. The bed is yours."

"Ashton I can't take your bed." 

"You can and you will."

"No."

"Annie I'm not budging on this. You're sleeping in my bed even if I have to sleep in it with you."

"Okay." she said. 

I walked her to my bedroom and took my clothes off of my bed. 

"Alright. Now you go take a nap while I go to the pharmacy and fill this." 

"Alright." She said. 

She cautiously walked over to the bed and pulled off her shoes. 

She pulled back the blankets and laid down. 

I turned off the lights before saying "I'll be back in an hour."

With that, I left the apartment. I wasn't sure why I wanted to take care of her, but I did. I had to. I just hoped that Katie wouldn't want to come over anytime soon. 

One thing that I knew for sure was that this next week or so would be very interesting. 

____________________

Love you all. Hugs and kisses. 

Stay crocs.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Annie." Ashton said shaking my shoulder. 

He thought that I was asleep but I wasn't. I wasn't tired. 

I couldn't sleep knowing that I had lied to Ashton. He thought that I was actually mugged. I don't know why he believed that awful story. 

I wanted to tell him that it was Alex that did this to me, but I couldn't. I loved Alex and no matter how much I hated him right now, I couldn't tell people what he did. 

I pretended to be a sleep for another minute before Ashton started shaking my shoulder again. 

"Annie wake up."

I sighed and opened my eyes. 

"I got your pills and some other stuff." He said. "As much as I love you sleeping in my bed, we have to go to the office so I can get some things. Put your shoes on."

Though I probably could have stayed home, well at his apartment, I didn't question him. I put my shoes on and walked out of his room and into the living room. 

He followed me walking to the door. 

We walked to his car and drove to the office. I'll admit that I was a little embarrassed. I was in one of my Dirty Pig shirts and I was going to my place of work. 

I touched the hem of my shirt remembering when I got it. 

I was fifteen. The Janoskians were my whole life. I watched every video of theirs and I even had a fan account on every form of social media there was. Posters of them covered my walls. 

James was my favorite. He was tall, funny, and so cute. I shipped Lames more than I shipped myself with him. Luke and James were the definition of perfection. 

It was around Christmas when they first came out with Dirty Pig. I begged my mom to let me get their shirts. From there it escalated. I got almost everything that they made. 

Everyone thought that I was ridiculous for wearing a clothing brand called Dirty Pig, but I didn't care. They made me happy and I would do anything to support them. 

I still have all of my stuff. I wear it around the house and to bed. 

My thoughts were interrupted when Mr. Irwin put his hand on my leg. 

"We're here." He said. 

"Where?" I asked. 

"The office." He said slowly. 

"Right." 

We got out of the car and walked into the building. We were silent on the elevator ride. 

When we got on the thirteenth floor, I stepped out of the elevator and stood. I couldn't remember which way to go to get to his or my office. 

"Annie what's wrong?" He spoke. 

"I- I can't remember where to go." I said. 

"What?" 

"I don't remember where your office is. Or mine." I said. Tears started forming in my eyes. 

"Come on. Just follow me." He said. 

I nodded and he started walking. I followed him to his office.

I blinked rapidly trying to get the tears to go away but they wouldn't. 

"Do you remember that doctors name?" He asked. I thought for a minute before shaking my head. 

He sat down in his chair and turned on his computer.

I sat down in one of the chairs opposite him and wiped my eyes. It was dumb to cry at stupid things, but sometimes you just get so frustrated that you can't help it. 

I had a lot on my plate right now. Alex and I were on a break, he had hurt me worse than he ever had before, and I had a concussion. 

Ashton was typing on his computer for a while before he picked up his phone. 

"Hello. Dr. Stone?" He said.

"Yeah, you treated Annie earlier." 

"I'm the guy that's her boss and her boyfriend." 

"Yeah whatever. Okay so we got home and she's having trouble remembering some things." 

"Like she couldn't remember where we were going or the way to get around the office."

"For how long?" 

"Okay. Thank you. Bye." He said and hung up the phone. 

"Alright Annie." He said turning to me. "It's normal for people with concussions to forget things. It shouldn't be that bad though. Just small things. It should only last for a week or so." 

I nodded before sitting back in my chair. It was good to know that I was going to be okay and that I wasn't losing my mind. 

Ashton did a few more things on his computer before leaving the room momentarily. 

He came back with some papers and some folders and looked at me. 

"Are you ready?" He asked. 

"Yeah." I mumbled before standing up. 

We walked out of the office and got into his car. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked. 

"No." 

"Thirsty?" 

"No." 

"Do you need anything?" 

"No."

"Are you okay?" 

"No. Wait I mean yes." 

"Annie." 

"I'm fine. Really." 

"Okay." He said. 

We sat in silence the rest of the way to his apartment. 

When we walked in I went to the living room and sat down on the couch. 

Ashton looked like he was about to say something to me, but his phone rang. 

He put up his index finger to me and left the room. 

I could hear some of what he was saying. 

"Katie can you not make this all about you for once?" He said that loudly. 

I heard a door close and his voice couldn't be heard anymore. 

So he was talking to his girlfriend. Nice. What if she decided to come over? Would she be mad at me? Would she break up with him? 

I couldn't be the one to break up their relationship. I wasn't exactly the expert on these things, but if Alex had another girl staying at his house then I would be pretty mad. 

Alex. How would he feel about this? I told him that nothing had or ever will happen with my boss. 

Oh god. My boss. This was a whole different level of inappropriate. 

I was currently staying in the same apartment as my boss. My employer. The one who signs my checks. 

What if I did something wrong and he fired me? 

Would I cook for him? Clean? Make his bed? Run his errands? 

God this was complicated. All of it. So complicated. 

Was this considered as cheating on Alex? What exactly can happen during a break? 

Confusing confusing. And complicated. Oh so complicated. 

It was like every bone in my body ached for the answers. Wait no. It was just my head. My head was killing me. I need to stop thinking about this. 

I closed my eyes for a minute before I opened them again to see Ashton standing above me. He had changed into a sleeveless cut up Nirvana shirt. 

"When did you get here?" I asked him. 

"A couple minutes ago. I couldn't decide if you should stay in here or be in my bed." 

The way he said it sounded sexual even though the intended meaning was the exact opposite. 

I looked at him. I hadn't really noticed how strong he looked before. It was probably the suit. 

"My head hurts," 

He nodded and walked to the kitchen to grab some pain killers and a bottle of water. 

While he handed them to me he said "Side effects include nausea, drowsiness, and an extreme craving for some Ashton cuddles." 

"What was that last one?" I asked. 

"Drowsiness." He said with wide eyes. 

"Are you sure? I thought I heard something about Ashton cuddles."

"Ashton cuddles? What are those?" He asked. 

"I don't know, but they sound unpleasant." 

"Hey! They're not unpleasant. I've been told many times by Michael that I have the best cuddles." He pouted. 

I laughed quietly and said "You're cute."

I opened the bottle of water and took the pills. 

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" He asked. 

I nodded and he turned on the laptop that was sitting on the entertainment center. 

"Alright. Pick a movie. Any movie in the world." 

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The one with Jim Carrey." I said. 

"Really?" 

I nodded. "It's my favorite." 

"Alright." 

He typed the movie into the search box and chose on of the options that came up. 

He plugged a cord into the tv and soon we were watching my favorite movie. 

***Ashton's POV***

How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

Not exactly what I planned on watching but I was fine with it. 

It made Annie happy to watch this. She had a smile on her face the entire time. 

I looked at the green and furry man on my television and wondered why she loved it so much. 

She giggled whenever the Grinch ate glass and told me how she always used to try and bite bottles because of that. 

Whenever the screen would have a close up of his face, she would ask me why his face had holes for whiskers but he had none. 

She wondered how they made his eyes yellow and how much time it took to do his makeup. 

"His teeth are gross. He needs some braces." She said quietly laughing. 

I smiled at her though she didn't see me. It was cute how she got so happy over this movie. 

We had started out on different sides of the couch, but now she was in the middle. 

I put my arm on the back of the couch behind her. She noticed it and looked at me but I kept my eyes on the movie. 

She slowly moved closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder. 

I moved my arm from the couch and put it around her. I smiled. 

It felt right. It felt like everything was just how it was supposed to be. 

Most important, for the first time, my apartment felt like home. 

__________________________

FUN FACT: It took me half a year to choose a favorite in 5sos. I'm a Michael girl, but Ashton is daddy. 

I actually really love the janoskians. They were the group that got me into fangirling unless you count the Jonas Brothers. I'm a loser, but my third grade self was so in love with Joe. 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is actually my favorite movie and I really did try and bite bottles because of it...sorry not. 

I really do love you all. 

Stay crocs.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So you said you got some other stuff earlier. What's the other stuff?" I asked.

Ashton stood up without a word and walked to the kitchen. He came back with four bags. 

"Well I didn't know what you would need, but I bought a bit of everything." He said. 

He reached into the first bag and pulled out three small teddy bears and handed them to me. 

"What are these for?" I asked. 

"Well I thought that they might cheer you up a little." He said. 

I nodded and waited for him to continue. 

The new just poured the rest of the bag out. The contents included hairbrushes of various colors and sizes, a set of combs, hair ties, headbands, barrettes, and bobby pins. 

"You think I need all of these?" I asked. 

"I didn't know what you preferred using." He shrugged. 

When he dumped the second bag my mouth dropped wide open. My eyes were wide, and I was at a loss for words. 

"Oh my god." I whispered finally finding my voice again. 

"Again, I didn't know what you preferred using." 

"I don't even know what to say." 

"I got tampons, pads, and pantyliners. I'm not really good with this stuff. Katie always has her own and never stays over. So I got regular and heavy flow."

"Ashton!" 

"I'm sorry! I've just always wanted to do this." 

"Buy tampons?" 

"No. Well yes, but no. I've always wanted to be that guy that wasn't afraid to do these things for my girlfriend. Or friend I guess. I don't know. I just want to feel needed sometimes. You know?" 

"Yeah. I know exactly how you feel." I sighed. He spoke again before I could wallow in self pity. 

"How about you open one." he said. 

I nodded and reached for one of the bags that he set on the floor beside the couch. 

"Candy!" I said excitedly. 

I started taking candy out of the bag. There were gummy worms, sour gummy worms, gummy bears, suckers, sweet tarts, different kinds of candy bars, and skittles. Lots and lots skittles. 

"How did you know?" I asked. 

"Know what?" 

"That skittles were my favorite." 

He smiled. "I didn't. They're my favorite too." 

"Nice choice." 

He laughed quietly and handed me the last bag. 

There were fuzzy socks, slippers, and a very soft blanket. 

I looked up at him and he said "I wanted to make sure that you were comfortable here." 

I quickly put everything back in their bags and set the bags on the floor. 

"Thank you." I said hugging him. 

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. 

"No problem." 

I hugged him for longer than I intended. When I realized that we were still hugging I quickly let go. 

"I'm sorry." I blushed. 

"No it's uh- it's fine." He said clearing his throat. 

He looked at the clock and then back at me. 

"I have some work to do, but you can stay in here and watch some tv if you want." He said. 

"Okay."

"If you need me I'll be in my office. It's two doors down from my room." He said turning off the laptop and unplugging the cord from the tv. 

"Alright." I said and he handed me the remote. 

I leaned back into the pillows and grabbed the blanket from the bag trying to get comfortable. 

He looked at me for a moment with a small smile before leaving the room to go do some work. 

I was flipping through the channels when my phone started ringing. I expected it to be Alex, but it was Shaylin. She wanted to FaceTime. 

I answered but I didn't say anything. I just smiled at her. 

"Annie!" She shrieked. 

"Calm down." I laughed. 

"Where are you?" She asked immediately. 

"How's your mom doing?" I asked. 

"She's fine. Where are you?"

"When's the wedding?" I asked. 

"Wednesday. Where are you?"

"You're the maid of honor right?" 

"Yes. Where are you?"

I kept avoiding her question. 

"I'm hungry." I said realizing that I hadn't eaten today. My stomach growled. 

"Liliana Marie Brooks. It has been a very long day. I can't sleep because my body says it's eight but it's actually eleven, I've had to babysit my cousins, and my moms fiancé's son keeps hitting on me. So I beg of you, don't make this difficult. Just tell me where you are." She said. 

"Pulling out the full name. I see you mean business." I replied. 

"Annie!" She yelled. 

"I'm at Alex's house." I lied. 

"Oh?" She said skeptically. 

"Yeah." I said. 

"So where's Alex?" She asked. 

"He's in the shower." 

"And you aren't with him?" 

"Does it look like I'm with him?" 

"Not having sex every possible chance that he can? That doesn't sound like the Alex I know."

"We aren't sex crazed Shaylin." I said quietly not wanting Ashton to hear what was going on. 

She rolled her eyes at me. "So you're saying that when I walked into the kitchen to find you two having sex on the counter the same day that I walked in on you guys fucking in the living room on the coffee table doesn't count as sex crazed?"

"I hadn't seen him for over a week before that!" I defended. 

"Twice on the same day!" 

"A week!" 

"I bleached the counter and table five times!" 

"So we wanted to be a little adventurous." I shrugged. 

"Well be adventurous at his place."

"After that we were. We did this thing where he-" 

"Alright! That's enough! Anyways I wanted to-" 

"Hey Shaylin. I was wondering if you wanted to go for some midnight ice cream." A guy said from behind Shaylin. 

"Okay, one, I'm on the phone. And two, it's only eleven." She said annoyed. 

"And who's this lovely lady might I ask?" He said. 

She rolled her eyes and said "Derek this is Annie. Annie, Derek."

"Nice to meet you." I said politely. 

"Same to you." He said. "I didn't know that Shaylin had such beautiful friends. What were you two beauties talking about?" 

"How much Annie enjoys fucking her boyfriend." Shaylin said with a smirk. 

"Shaylin!" I gasped. 

Derek's smile faded. "Oh well uh, I guess I'll let you two talk I guess. Uh so ice cream?" 

"No." Shaylin said. 

With that, he left the room. 

"Love you Shaylin." I said. 

"No. You are not going to hang up on me."

"I have to. The shower stopped running. I promise we can talk tomorrow."

"Love you too." She sighed. 

I blew her some kisses and hung up. 

My stomach growled again and I frowned. I didn't usually skip meals but today was very busy. 

I reached into the bag of candy on the floor and pulled out a package of gummy bears. 

I grabbed the remote and began flipping through channels again before settling on an episode of Family Feud. 

I ate gummy bears until my jaw was tired of chewing and I watched Family Feud until my eyes started getting heavy. 

______________________

I love you all. 

Stay crocs.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

***Liliana's POV*** 

"Annie I missed you so much!" Alex said hugging me. 

"I missed you too." I said pulling back from the hug. He kept me pressed to him. 

I looked into his eyes. They were beautiful just like the day I first met him. 

"Alex do you remember the day we first met?" I asked. 

"Of course I do baby. You were in my finance class." He smiled. "You were wearing a Pink Floyd shirt, those skinny jeans with the holes in them and the black converse that you've had forever." 

I smiled at him and he continued. 

"I remember thinking that you were the most beautiful girl in the world. You looked so focused on every word the professor was saying. I was so focused on you that I didn't get a word of what was said that day. I was dying to talk to you." He said. 

"I know. I remember when you tripped trying to get to me. I rushed to help you up." I said giggling. 

"And then once I was finally back on my feet, someone bumped into me and pushed me toward you." 

"Yeah. It was kind of awkward being pressed to a stranger." 

"You think it was awkward? I was trying not to get a hard on." He said. 

"Alex!" I gasped. 

"It's true." He said. "I'm trying not to get one now. 

He bit his lip and pressed his groin to me. 

"You aren't doing a very good job." I whispered. 

"I know baby. Why don't you help me out?" He spoke before kissing my neck. 

"Alex." I mumbled pushing him away. 

"What's wrong?" He asked. 

"I'm just not in the mood." I said. 

He tried to kiss me but I turned my head and he got my cheek. 

"What the hell Annie?" He said pushing me back. 

"I just don't want to today."

He slapped me. "You do what I fucking say!" 

"N- no." 

He pushed me onto the floor and began hitting me. 

"Stop!" I tried to yell but I had no voice. 

He ripped off my sweats and started to unzip his pants. 

"No!" I tried again but there was no sounds coming out of my mouth. 

Alex put his hands around my neck. I couldn't breathe. I kept screaming but nothing was working. No sounds were coming out. Everything went black. 

***Ashton's POV***

Annie fell asleep on the couch. I wanted to wake her for dinner but she looked so cute and peaceful that I didn't want to bother her. 

I ended up eating some left over pasta and going back to work. After two more hours of financial reports and company management, I went to bed. I tried sleeping but there was just too much on my mind. 

Running a company was hard work. After my grandpa found out about me being unsuccessful in music, he made me finish college in Australia. I graduated with several business degrees. 

Right after college I was thrown straight into the working world. They taught me everything that I needed to know in order to run a company. After that I helped him and the rest of my family run Irwin Incorporated. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that we decided to expand to America. Everyone else had a family and they didn't want to change their whole life, so I volunteered. 

We decided on Los Angeles because I knew the area and there were a lot of small businesses that we could invest in and sponsor. 

Everything just sort of took off from there. We own over a thousand small and large business across America and our Australian branch owns over twenty thousand. 

I often wonder what it would be like if I hadn't gone into business and the band worked out. 

Would I be playing stadiums? Would I have a lot of fans? Would girls be lining up to buy tickets to my shows? Or camping out all night to see us perform? I chuckled at the thought. 

I guess in a way I'm lucky that I didn't get famous from that band. I'm well off. The company keeps me well paid and I'm happy. 

If I would've stayed in that band then I would've never met Katie.We were made for each other. That's what I keep telling myself at least. 

There were just some things that we didn't agree on. That's what love is all about though right? Accepting each other's differences. 

Sure it was hard, but I loved her. More than anything almost. I had to start trying harder. I had to do things better for her. Spend more time with her. Do more things for her. Maybe I should take her to Australia to meet my mum like she asked. Maybe I- 

"Stop!" I heard a quiet yell. 

I sat up in my bed and kept listening. 

"No!" I heard a yell again. It was Annie. She began screaming nonstop. 

I jumped out of my bed and ran to the living room ready to save Annie from whatever was hurting her.

I turned on the lights. When I got to her, she was asleep. She was having a nightmare. 

I began shaking her. 

"Annie! Annie please wake up!" I yelled. 

She opened her eyes but she was still screaming. 

She quickly sat up and scooted to the corner of the couch. She stopped screaming when she realized where she was. 

Her breathing was heavy and she had tears in her eyes. She was looking around the room frantically. 

"Are you okay?" I asked. 

"I- I uh- n- no." She said wiping her eyes. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" 

"No." She said with a sniffle. 

"Are you sure?" I asked and she nodded. 

"Is there anything that I can do for you?" 

"No." She said weakly. 

"Okay, well I guess I'll go back to bed." I said. 

I stood up and walked back to my room. 

When I laid down on my bed I let out a sigh of relief. Annie wasn't actually being hurt. It did worry me because of how scared of her dream she was. Her eyes were filled with pure horror.

Maybe she was dreaming about getting mugged. Maybe that's why she didn't want to talk about it. It's a very traumatic experience that no one should have to go through. 

There was a small knock at my door. 

"Come in." I said sitting up and turning on my lamp. 

The door slowly opened and Annie walked in closing the door behind her. 

Without a word she walked over and got into my bed. She moved around for a moment trying to get comfortable, but when she finally settled in, she yawned quietly. 

"Goodnight Ashton." She said. 

"Goodnight Annie." I replied and turned off the light before laying down. 

Soon I heard her breathing slow and I knew she was asleep. 

@@@@@@@@@

I heard my alarm going off. It was six thirty. I must've forgotten to shut it off yesterday. 

I heard a groan from beside me. As I was getting ready to sit up, I felt a small body crawl on top of me. The alarm was snoozed. 

I opened my eyes slightly to see Annie still laying on me. I reached my arm over and unplugged the clock so it wouldn't come on again. 

I let out a long breath and laid my head back down. 

Annie's head was on my chest. Her hands rested on my shoulders. It didn't seem like a very comfortable way to sleep, but she was sleeping and that's what mattered. 

Last night she woke up and felt around the bed for me. She put her hands in my hair and touched my cheeks. She sighed and went back to sleep. 

I don't think she knew that I was awake. I wanted to know why she did that but I didn't want her to feel awkward about anything. 

I closed my eyes again. My hands subconsciously rested on her lower back. 

I drew small circles with my fingers and rubbed her back. 

Though almost nothing was going right lately, I wasn't worried. I was completely relaxed. 

I wasn't exactly sure how long I was laying there before she woke up again. I may have dozed off a few times, but for the most part I was awake. 

She sat up to where she was on my hips and stretched. Her hair was a mess, her face was still bruised, and she had a sleepy confused look on her face. It was adorable. It was what I wanted to wake up to always. I smiled at the thought. 

"What?" She asked. 

"Nothing." I replied. 

She bit her lip. 

"Annie?" I asked. 

"Yeah?"

"Weren't you wearing pants last night?" I asked realizing that she was just in her underwear and a t shirt. 

She blushed and covered her face. 

"I'm sorry." She laughed. 

"It's alright." I said. "Whatever helps you sleep." 

"So what are we doing today?"

"Resting." I said. 

"Why?" She pouted. 

"Because you have a concussion." 

I reached my hand up and lightly touched her cheek. She flinched at the contact. 

"Does it hurt bad?" I asked. 

She shook her head. 

Her lip was still swollen and the bruises on her cheek and eye got darker. 

"Let's go make some breakfast." I said. 

"Okay." She said quietly. 

She got off of me and walked out of my room. I followed her and found her in the living room trying to brush her hair. 

I smiled and walked to the kitchen. I was looking through the fridge for something to eat when I heard her talk. 

"Ashton have you seen my phone?" 

I walked to the doorway of the kitchen to see her bent over looking for her phone in the couch. 

I bit my lip. She was still just in underwear and a shirt. A bulge started to grow in my shorts. 

"No. You can use my phone to call it. It's in my room."

"Alright." She said and went to my room. 

She walked back out with my phone in her hand and called her number. She bent over once more to look for her phone. Fuck. 

"Annie I'm going to take a shower. When I get out I'll take you to get breakfast." I said walking to my room. 

"Okay." She said still looking for her phone. 

I walked into my bathroom closing the door and locking it behind me. 

I turned on the shower and when the water was hot enough for me, I took off my clothes. 

I stepped into the stream of hot water and let it cascade over me. 

I moved my hand down and began rubbing my length slowly. I bit my lip and my head fell back and rested against the shower wall. 

I imagined Annie's lips wrapped around me. Her looking up at me with an innocent look in her eyes. 

I quickened my pace. 

The thought of her cheeks hollowed as she takes in as much of me as she can brings me closer to my high. 

I moaned as I rubbed my thumb over the head. Pre-cum started to leak out. My breathing became heavy. I rubbed my size faster. 

"Fuck. Annie." I moaned. 

With a few more strokes, I came. A string of curses and Annie's name left my mouth. 

Once I came down from my high, I cleaned myself up and finished my shower. 

I just hoped that Annie didn't hear any of that. 

___________________________

FUN FACT: Chicken Ramen Noodles are the best Ramen Noodles. 

Ohhhh and I use the @ to skip time and whatnot because it's my favorite symbol. Judge me if you must. 

I love you!!!!

Stay crocs.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I think I need to go home." I whispered. 

Ashton rolled over in the bed and looked at me. 

My eyes trailed down his body. His boxers were low on his hips and he didn't have a shirt on. 

"Why? I thought we had fun last night." He said with a sleepy voice and I smiled.

"Last night was fun, but Shaylin is coming home tomorrow." 

"Are you sure you're not afraid that I'll beat you in heads up again?" 

"Okay first, I definitely beat you. Second, a girl can only play so much heads up in a week."

"Actually, you didn't beat me because you couldn't guess Justin Bieber."

"Because you're terrible at describing people!" I said giggling. 

"I am not!"

"You literally just said, 'I'm from Canada swag swag swag.' over and over."

"Whatever." He said laughing. 

"Your accent is thicker in the morning." 

"It is?" He asked and I nodded. 

"I never really noticed." He said. 

"It is. I like it." 

"Really?" 

"Mhm. I like accents. America is boring. I just talk normal." 

He laughed lightly before talking. "I don't think you talk normal. I like your accent. You say hello pretty cool." 

I laughed. "I do not." 

"Say my name." He said. 

"Ashton." 

"I love it." He whispered. 

I put my hand on his face. 

"Stop being a weirdo and let's go eat some breakfast." I said getting up and walking to the kitchen. 

I heard his footsteps behind me. 

I walked to the pantry and got out the Frosted Flakes. Ashton got two bowls and spoons. He sat at the table and waited for me. 

I grabbed the milk from the fridge and sat down with him. 

We poured our bowls of cereal and ate quietly. 

"What time do you want to leave?" He asked. 

"I don't know. Feel free to kick me out whenever."

He mumbled something that I didn't understand. 

I finished my bowl and stood up. 

"I'm going to get my stuff ready." I said and walked to his room. 

***Ashton's POV***

I put our dishes into the sink and leaned against the counter. 

Annie had been here for almost a week, but I didn't want her to leave. I had so much fun with her. 

Last night we played heads up for hours. After I beat her, she was pouting. Even though she looked cute, I like it better when she's smiling, so I tickled her. 

I learned that her feet, stomach, sides, neck, and underarms are all ticklish. She laughed so hard that she cried. I smiled remembering how she was begging me to stop tickling her, but never stopped laughing. 

There was a knock at the door. I sighed and went to answer it. Whoever it was was very impatient because they wouldn't stop knocking. 

I finally opened the door to reveal my three best friends. 

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. 

"We called you a bunch." Calum said. 

"I haven't checked my phone." 

"Why are you naked?" Luke asked.

"I have boxers on." I stated. 

"Hey Ashton have you seen my shirt?" Annie said from behind me. 

I turned to look at her. She didn't put pants on yet. Shit. 

"Oh, uh hi. Uh. Pants. I need them. I'll just um, yeah." She said fumbling with her words before quickly walking back to my room. 

"It's not what it looks like." I said looking back at the guys. 

"So that wasn't Annie with no pants on in your Pink Floyd shirt that we all know is yours because you cut holes in your shirts?" Michael said. 

"Alright so maybe that was what it looked like, but nothing happened." I defended. 

"Lucas did you wear your boots today?" Calum said. 

"Why no Mr. Hood. I did not." Luke replied. 

"Well maybe you should've because I smell bullshit." Calum said with a smirk. 

Michael giggled before saying "Me too."

"Ha. Ha. You guys are hilarious." I said unamused. 

"Thank you. I try." Calum said. 

"Alright, anyways, she got a concussion on Saturday and needed someone to take care of her, so I said that I would. That's all. Nothing happened I swear." 

"What about her boyfriend?" Michael asked. 

"They broke up."

"Mhm. Yep yep. Yeah. Should've worn my boots." Luke said. 

I rolled my eyes. 

"Believe what you want, but that's the truth." 

"Alright well we came to see if you would come to eat with us, but you have obviously been eating something else lately." Calum said wiggling his eyebrows. 

"Goodbye." I said closing the door. 

"You can't hide the truth from us!" I heard Michael yell from the other side of the door. 

I looked through the peephole and they had walked away. 

Talk about bad timing. 

"I am so sorry." Annie said as she walked back in she was wearing a pair of my sweatpants. 

"For what?" 

"Embarrassing you in front of your friends." She said. 

"It's not a big deal and I wasn't embarrassed." I laughed. 

"Alright." She said. "I have my stuff ready. Can you take me home?" 

"Yeah. Just let me get dressed." I said and walked to my room to put on some clothes. 

***Liliana's POV***

"Bye Ashton. I'll get these clothes back to you tomorrow." I said getting out of the car.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay another day?" He asked. 

"You have a meeting tomorrow and you need to be focused. I've kept you from work and I'm sure that you would love to be alone. I know that I can get annoying, so goodbye. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." He said with a frown. 

I gave him a weak smile before closing the door and walking into the building. 

When I got in the elevator, I leaned my head against the wall. I had another headache. 

Though I was still having headaches, I wasn't having them as much. My concussion was almost better and even though I technically wasn't supposed to start working until Monday again, I figured that going back for one day wouldn't hurt. The doors opened and I walked to my apartment. 

It took me a minute to get the door unlocked. It had been a while since I've been here to stay. I've only come to get a few things, but now that I'm here, it's nice. 

I walked to my room and put my things on the floor. 

After that, I went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. I took showers at Ashton's, but I had to use his man soap. It smelled good. Just not for me. 

I turned on the water so it was hot before stripping my clothes. 

When I stepped in, I sat down. 

There were a lot of things on my mind. Shaylin coming home, Alex and I not talking for almost a week, and Ashton. 

No. I had to stop calling him that. Mr. Irwin. He was on my mind. 

I hadn't exactly realized how inappropriate me staying with him was until this morning. I was having so much fun that I forgot that he was my boss. I was regretting everything that happened. 

I shouldn't have slept in his bed. I should've kept my pants on, but honestly, pants are the devils creation. I shouldn't have let him tickle me. We shouldn't have cuddled. I shouldn't have let him take me to the hospital or even come into my apartment last week. 

Let's just add all of this to the list of ways that I fuck up. 

I finished my shower quicker than normal. I knew that the longer I was in there the longer I would be thinking of Asht- Mr. Irwin. 

I needed to set boundaries. Everything else beyond this point would be strictly business. 

I jumped on my bed and cuddled up to my stuffed rabbit. I grabbed my phone and called Shaylin. I had to get my mind off of him. 

"Hello?" She answered. 

"Hey." I said smiling even though she couldn't see me. 

"What's up?" She asked. 

"Are you still coming home tomorrow?" 

"Yeah. I think that my flight gets in around nine or ten." 

"At night?" 

"Yeah." 

"Oh, well how was the wedding?"

"Long and boring. The cake was good though, so that's a plus." She said. 

I laughed at her. "Of course that's the only thing that you would think of." 

"Well if you had to stand up in front of like two hundred people and hold flowers while some old guy went on and on about Jesus and togetherness and shit then you would be happy with the cake too." 

"Did you really just say Jesus and shit in the same sentence?" I asked. 

"Does it matter? I think that you and I both know that I'm already going to hell." 

"That's not true." 

"Annie, do you remember during senior year when I told you that I was dating that guy from church?" She asked. 

"Mhm."

"That guy was the pastors son and every Sunday for a month we snuck off during the service and fucked in the room where they did baptisms. I can almost guarantee that I'm hell bound." 

"Shaylin!" I gasped. 

"He was so cute though!" 

"In church?! My god!" 

"Don't judge alright."

"Not judging just, uh, being surprised I guess. In church?" 

She laughed at me. "I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow." 

"Do you want me to pick you up from the airport?" I asked. 

"No. I'll get a cab. My precious Annie needs her beauty sleep." She said. 

"Alright. Bye. I'll see you tomorrow my love." 

"Bye." She said and hung up. 

Talking to Shaylin helped. Though Mr. Irwin still lingered somewhere in the pit of my thoughts, there was another thing that just kept coming to the surface. 

How could Shaylin fuck someone in church? That actually kind of sounds like something that me and Alex would do. 

Well, would've done I guess. I don't know. I miss him. 

That dream I had last Saturday was crazy scary, but that's all that it was. A dream. 

I'm not scared of Alex for real. Well, not too much anyways. 

He just loses himself sometimes, but I can't blame him. We all do it. 

And sometimes I provoke him. I do things that he doesn't like. He can't help it if he gets angry with me. It's my fault. 

My thoughts drifted. 

'Call him.' half of me begged. 

'Let him suffer a little longer.' the other half said standing her ground. 

I went to Alex's contact information. His picture was of us kissing and he had heart emojis by his name. 

'I want him. I need him. I love him.' I thought as my thumb hovered over the call button. 

__________________

Love you all. 

Stay crocs.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Ashton Irwin's office." I said answering the phone. 

"Annie, Katie Novak is here to see Mr. Irwin." Veronica said. 

"Mr. Irwin is in a meeting that isn't scheduled to end for another twenty minutes." I said. 

"Okay. I'll let her know." She said and hung up. 

I took a sip of my coffee and continued working. It was easier now that I was only under the orders of Mr. Irwin. I had a lot less to do, but I get paid more. 

My phone buzzed with an email from the boss. 

'Coffee for five. CR 6" It read. 

I went to the break room and poured five cups of coffee. I set them on a tray and grabbed creamer and sugar for them. 

On my way to deliver it, I heard the phone ringing in my office. I stopped to answer it. 

"Ashton Irwin's office." 

"Katie's on her way up." 

"But he's in a meeting." I said. 

"I told her but she wouldn't take no for an answer." Veronica said. 

"Thank you." I said and hung up the phone. 

I quickly walked to the conference room where the meeting was being held. I knocked twice on the door before entering. 

The men's talking stopped as they turned their heads to look at me.

I gave them a small smile before setting a cup in front of each of them and offering them cream and sugar. 

When I finished I walked around the table to Mr. Irwin. 

"Sir, we have a problem." I whispered. 

"Handle it Ms. Brooks." He quietly snapped. 

"I tried, but-" 

"No. I'm in a meeting. Handle. It." He said through gritted teeth. 

I nodded and quickly walked out of the room. 

I saw a girl walking down the hallway looking in every door. 

"Excuse me, can I help you?" I said politely as she looked into my office. 

"Yes. I'm looking for Ashton."

"I'm sorry, but he's in a meeting. I'll show you to his office and you can wait there." I offered. 

"I know where his office is! Where is he?" She yelled. 

"His meeting won't be over for another ten minutes at least."

"I am his girlfriend! If I want to see him then I will!" She said pushing past me.

"Ashton!" She yelled. 

She kept checking doors before she got to Conference Room 6. 

"Miss please don't disturb him!"

It was too late. She already opened the door and stormed in. 

"Ashton!" She yelled. 

I ran to the door as quickly as I could in heels and looked at Mr. Irwin and the men. 

"Sir I tried to stop her." I said. 

"Katie please leave. I'm very busy." Mr. Irwin said. 

"No! I will not leave. You've been ignoring my calls and texts. I come to your apartment and you're not there. I tried giving you space, but I can't handle this anymore." She said exasperated. 

"Katie we will handle this later." He said through gritted teeth. 

"Ashton!" She exclaimed. 

"Ms. Brooks please escort Katie to my office. I'll be there shortly." He said. 

I nodded and held the door open for her. She reluctantly turned around and walked out of it. 

I walked to his office with her. When we got there, she sat in one of the chairs and I sat by her. 

"I know how you feel." I said. 

"What?" 

"Feeling neglected. My boyfriend and I are on a break right now, but he's not exactly the most attentive person. I don't know. He made a big mistake last week so I told him that we needed to take a break. I almost called him last night, but I realized that we both needed a little more time." I said sighing sadly. 

"Sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you this. You probably don't care and I just met you." I said and gave her an apologetic smile. 

"It just seems like he doesn't love me anymore." She said and a tear slid down her cheek. 

"I know that it's not my place to speak, but he's been very busy lately. We're looking to buy several small businesses in the area so we can increase profit. He's been working very hard lately." I said. 

"It's not just that. Ashton and I haven't...done it for a while." She said shyly. 

"Oh uh, I don't know what to say." I said shocked. 

She laughed lightly. "Sorry. I just, I think he's cheating on me with some bitch named Annie." 

My eyes widened. 

"Why would you think that?" I asked. 

"He always talks about her and it was about the time that she started working here that we stopped hanging out as much." She said. 

"Oh." I mumbled. His friends said that he talked about me a lot but I thought that it was a joke to embarrass him. I guess they were serious. 

"What does he say?"

"He tells me almost everything that she says. He told me that she was really scared of him her first week here because he yelled at her on her first day. She did everything that he asked as fast as she could." She said. 

I smiled at the memory. Who could be scared of Ashton? It's true though. I was terrified that he would get mad at me again and then fire me. 

"She sounds funny." I said quietly. 

"Not really. She sounds more like a bitch that wants to get with Ashton. I guess I can't blame her. I want to get with him too." She said. 

Katie honestly didn't seem too bad. Just a little paranoid. I can't blame her. After what happened this past week I would be paranoid too. But nothing happened between Mr. Irwin and I that I wouldn't do with my brothers. 

"Mr. Irwin isn't the kind of person that would cheat. He's so much better than that. Just try to understand where he's coming from here. Running a business at twenty six can't be easy. He's got a lot to handle and sometimes he just can't balance everything." 

"You're right. Sorry for being crazy earlier." She laughed wiping her eyes. 

"You weren't crazy in the least bit." I smiled. "It was nice talking to you, but I've got to get back to work. I'll bring you some water." 

"Thank you. That would be nice." She said. 

I got up and walked out of the room sighing in relief. She didn't know that I was Annie. I was just glad that she didn't ask my name. 

I got two bottles of water and took them back to Mr. Irwin's office. I left as quickly as possible trying to avoid any further conversation. 

On the way back to my office I ran into Mr. Irwin. 

"Annie!" He said stopping me. 

"Yeah?"

"Is Katie in my office?" 

"Yes Sir. Though I'd like to warn you. She's very upset because you haven't been talking to her much or uh, well, meeting all of her 'needs' like she wants." I told him. 

"She told you that?" He asked shocked. 

"Yeah. She also thinks that you're cheating on her with me. We talked for some time, but she doesn't know my name and quite frankly I'd like to keep it that way. I tried to set everything straight." 

"Thank you so much." He said opening his arms for a hug. 

Instead I grabbed his right hand in mine and shook it. 

"Just doing my job, sir." I said and walked back to my office. 

I sat down and started working once more. When I looked at the clock it was almost twelve thirty. I picked up my phone and called Mr. Irwin. 

"Irwin." He said when he answered the phone. 

"Sir your next meeting is in ten minutes." I said. 

"Ms. Brooks could you go ahead and cancel that? Something else came up." He said. 

"Sir the appointment is with the owner of the strip mall downtown." 

"Shit. That's right. Uh, push it back to one please." 

"I'll see what I can do." I said and hung up. It was only seconds before my phone rang again. 

"Ashton Irwin's office." 

"Annie, there's a Mark Hughes here for a twelve thirty five with Mr. Irwin. Shall I send him up?" Veronica asked the name sounded familiar. I looked at the computer and that's who was scheduled, but I knew that I've heard that name before. 

"Mr. Irwin has requested that that meeting be moved to one o'clock if possible." 

I heard her say something before speaking to me again. 

"This is the only time that he has available for another week and can't reschedule for today." She said. 

"Alright, I'll call him and then get back to you." I said hanging up and calling Mr. Irwin back. 

"Irwin." 

"Sir, this is the only time that he has available for the next week and he can't reschedule due to such short notice. He's downstairs." 

I heard him groan before saying, "Alright. Let him up and take him to CR four. I'll be in at twelve forty." 

"Yes Sir." I said and hung up before calling Veronica back and telling her to send him up. 

I walked to the elevator to wait for him there. I smiled at the security guard standing there. He was the one that let me through on my first day. 

The doors opened to reveal. Mr. Hughes. 

"Annie?" He said with a smile.

I took a closer look at him. 

"Mark!" I said hugging him when he stepped out. "Come on. You're in Conference Room Four." 

I lead him to the room and opened the door for him. He walked in and sat down. I joined him. 

"How've you been?" He asked. 

"Great. I've been great. I got this job and it pays really well." 

"That's wonderful. Are you still with Alex?" He asked. 

"Uh, we're going through a bit of a rough patch right now. I'm going to call him later though." I said. 

"What happened?" 

"He thinks that he knows what's best for me. He wants me to quit here because he thinks I have something going on with my boss." I said. 

"Well do you?" He asked. 

"No! God no. That's enough about me. What about you? How are you doing?" I asked him. 

"I'm great. Allison and I are planning to retire soon." 

"I suppose that's why you're here?" 

"Yeah. We're selling the mall now that we're getting old and we want all of the business owners in good hands." 

"Mr. Irwin is a great choice. I would personally make sure that everyone is in good hands. Anything for you guys. And besides, you aren't old." I laughed. 

"Well Kyle just turned twenty two and he's the baby of the family. I'd say I'm getting up there." He laughed. 

"How's Kyle doing? I haven't talked to him for a while." I said. 

"He's good. He's dating some girl he met at work. She's great, but no one could replace you." He joked. 

"Oh gosh. Don't remind me." I said covering my face. 

"You were the first girl that he really liked." He said. 

"Yeah. I really liked him too. I don't remember why we broke up." I frowned. 

"I think it had something to do with that camping trip we all went on." 

"Oh right!" I said giggling. "He fell out of that tree and broke his arm and then asked the paramedic for her number!" 

"In his defense, I think he thought that he was dying!" We started laughing harder. "We miss having you around. You were the daughter we never had."

When our laughing died down, I said "Don't get your hopes up about me being your daughter-in-law. I think that once you date your ex boyfriends best friend that things are over." 

"You didn't know." He said. 

"I know. When Alex 'introduced' me to him the first time it was super awkward. I didn't want to tell him that we dated. I still don't think that he knows."

"You have to come over for dinner sometime." He said. 

"I would love to! Just have Kyle call me and tell me when." I said just as the door opened. 

"Sorry I'm late." Mr. Irwin said.

"That's alright. Annie's been keeping me company." Mark said. 

"Great. Ms. Brooks please get us some water." Mr. Irwin said. 

Mark stood up as I did and hugged me. 

"I'll see you soon. Don't be a stranger. And good luck with Alex." He whispered. 

"I'll see you soon Mark. Just make sure that Kyle calls me. You know how forgetful he is." I said. 

He laughed. "Will do."

I pulled out of the hug and went to get water. When I returned, they were talking business. 

"Thank you." They both said. 

I walked out and went back to my office. 

I picked up my phone and went to Alex's contact once again. My thumb hovered over the call button once again. 

However, this time, I pressed call. 

It rang three times before he answered. 

"Annie." He sighed. 

"Alex." 

"I miss you baby." He said with a gentle voice. 

"I miss you too Alex. So much."

"I'm going to anger management classes every other day." He said. 

"Really?" 

"Yes. After what happened, I- I couldn't live with myself. I was so hurt because I hurt you. I got help because I can't live without you Annie." 

"The bruises are almost gone." I said quietly. 

"I'm so sorry." 

"I had a concussion."

"No." He said in disbelief. 

"Yes."

"Annie. I'm so sorry. God I didn't mean to. You have to understand that I was in such a bad place last week. These classes I've been going to have really helped me. I'm learning how to control myself." 

"That's wonderful." I said. 

"Thank you. I'm really trying. I just want to be with you baby. Whatever it takes." 

"It's just so good to hear your voice." I said closing my eyes. 

"Yours too. I just wish that I could see your beautiful face." He said in almost a whisper. 

"Come over tonight." 

"Really?" He asked. 

"Yes. I miss you. I need to see you." I said. 

"Alright what time?"

"I get off of work at seven. Just come over around eight." I said. "You can stay the night." 

"I'll be there." He said. 

"Okay. I'll see you later." 

"Bye." 

"Bye."

I just sat there. 

"Alex you can hang up now." I said. 

"I don't want to." He said laughing quietly. 

"Then I guess I will." 

"Bye." 

"Bye." I said and hung up. 

I sighed with content. Maybe now that Alex was getting help things would be better. 

_____________________

Love you all. 

Stay crocs.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Annie I don't know what you did earlier today, but it worked." Mr. Irwin said walking into my office. 

"What?"

"Mr. Hughes. He's signing over the mall to me! Annie this is huge!" 

"Oh. I didn't do anything. He just wants all of the shop owners in good hands and I told him that I would personally guarantee that they would be." 

"How do you know him?" He asked.

"Oh. I uh, I dated his son." I said. 

"Is that Alex's dad?" He asked with wide eyes. 

"No!" I said. "His son Kyle. It was a couple months last summer. I broke up with him and started dating Alex like a month later. Ironically, they're best friends now." 

"Does Alex know about you and Kyle?" 

"Nope." I said. 

"Alright anyways, thank you." 

"Just doing my job."

"A bunch of us are going out tonight to for some drinks. You should come." He offered. 

"Uh, no. I can't." 

"Plans?"

"Underage." I said. 

"What?" He asked confused. 

"I'm only nineteen." 

"No." He said skeptically. 

"Yes." I said mocking his tone. 

"But you have a college degree." 

"I was an over achiever with no life in high school. My birthday barely made the deadline, so I graduated at seventeen." I said proudly. 

"That explains nothing."

"During high school I took all of the courses I needed to graduate online and I took college classes during school and the summer."

"So?"

"So I only had one year of actual college that I had to do."

"Wow." He said amazed. "Someone that works harder than me." 

"When I know what I want I go after it." I said. 

"My kind of girl." He smiled. 

"Look Mr. Irwin as much as I love talking, I really need to go home." I said looking at the clock. 

"Oh right. Shaylin's coming home today. Tell her I said hi." He said and began to walk away. 

"Wait!" 

He turned around. 

"Did you fix things with Katie?" I ask. 

"Yeah. Thanks for that too. She said that you were very nice and deserved a raise."

"Does she know my name?" 

"Nope." He said and I laughed. "But I know your name and I think that Liliana Brooks deserves a raise too." 

"Sir I can't. You just promoted me." 

"You can and you will." 

"No. It's not fair. I haven't done anything."

"You just got this company a six to eight percent increase in profit. I'm raising the pay of all our employees. You now get a thousand dollars a week plus over time. Now go home and enjoy yourself. You and Shaylin eat ice cream and watch the Notebook or whatever girls do." He said with a smile. 

"Thank you Sir." I mumbled. 

He nodded and walked out of my office. 

Three hundred extra dollars a week. What could I do with all of that money? 

Pay my hospital bill that I got yesterday. God that was expensive. Two thousand dollars for some questions, a few scans, and pain medication. 

I gather my things and walk out of my office, locking the door behind me. 

On my way home, I picked up a chicken wrap from the deli down the road from my place. 

When I got home, I ate quickly before getting in the shower. I didn't sit down this time because I had to hurry. 

When I got out, I wrapped myself in a towel. I walked to my dresser and opened the bottom drawer. I take out a pair of shorts and a t shirt. 

I quickly put them on along with a bra and underwear and wrap the towel around my head so it could dry my hair. 

I checked the time, eight. 

I went into the living room and cleaned it up. I threw away the trash, set the pillows on the couch, and lit a vanilla scented candle. 

I went back to the bathroom and brushed my teeth before blow drying my hair. 

Once it was dry, combed, and looked presentable, I went to the living room and sat down. 

Minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I blew out the candle and got up answered it. 

"Alex." I smiled. 

"Annie." He returned my grin. 

"You have a key. You could've just came in." I said. 

He reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. He took my hand and placed put the key in it. 

"What are you-" 

"I want to start over. This break has given me a chance to think about things. I want everything to be perfect this time." He said. 

I smiled and hugged him. 

"That's so sweet." I said. "Come in." 

I put the spare key on the kitchen counter and went back into the living room. He was sitting on the couch. 

I smiled and sat by him. 

"How've you been?" He asked. 

"Good." I said. 

"How's your head?"

"It's fine. I haven't gotten a headache today so that's good." 

"Yeah. That is good."

I got up and sat back down on his lap.

"I missed you." I said nuzzling my face in the crook of his neck. 

He wrapped his arms around me. 

"I missed you too baby. I wasn't sure how much longer I could go without seeing you." 

I sat up and looked into his eyes. Sincerity filled them. I held his face in my hands.

I leaned in and kissed him slowly. So many feelings were put into this. Need, want, regret, love, sorrow. 

"Let's go to my room." I mumbled. 

"Annie." He said pulling away. 

"Oh. Sorry." I said looking down at my hands. 

He tilted my head up gently. 

"I want to. Trust me when I say this, but I just don't want you to feel pressured into anything. Like I said, I want everything to be perfect this time." 

"You want it to be perfect?" I asked and he nodded. 

"Then don't be so rough and no hickeys. I missed you and I want to show you how much." I said kissing him again. 

He smiled into the kiss and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me to my room. 

He struggled to get the door open. I giggled and reached my hand down and opened it for him. 

Once we were in my room, he kicked the door closed and pushed me against it. He let my legs go and I was once again on the floor. 

He leaned down and kissed my neck while pinning my wrists to the wall. 

"No marks." I said quietly. 

He let go of my hands and grabbed my waist. I moaned but pulled away from him. 

"What's the matter? You okay?" He asked. 

I pushed him to the bed and he laid down on it. I stood up and took off my shirt and shorts. 

"I wore this just for you." 

"Red lace, my favorite." He said with a husky voice. "Too bad we have to take it off of you." 

I bit my lip. He sat up and pulled me onto him. 

"You're so beautiful." he said unhooking my bra. 

I pulled it off and threw it to the floor. 

"I missed you so fucking much." He said flipping us over. 

He took off his shirt and began kissing me again. 

My hands reached down and fumbled with his belt. When I finally got it undone, he stepped out of his jeans and was left in just his boxers. 

He pressed his hips into mine and I moaned as I felt him against me. 

"These come off now." He said hooking his fingers into my underwear and pulling them off.

He moved his hand and rubbed circles on my core. 

"Alex." I moaned arching my back.

"Always so ready for me." He said. 

He moved his fingers slightly lower and slipped one into me. I groaned and pulled him up to kiss me. 

He pushed another finger in and curled them. A wonderful sensation pulsed through my body. 

"I need you." I moaned. 

He stood and got a condom from my dresser before coming back to me. 

I licked my lips before pulling down his boxers letting his member spring free. He handed me the foil packet and I ripped it open with my teeth. I slowly slid it onto him. 

"You ready baby?" He asked and I nodded. 

He hovered over me for a moment before kissing my neck and spreading my legs apart with his knee. 

He lined himself up at my entrance and slowly began pushing into me. 

I whined as he filled me. His mouth was the shape of an O. 

He circled his hips slowly before retracting and entering me once more. 

"Alex please." I moaned. 

"Slow baby." he said. 

He began slowly thrusting into me. My nails scratched down his back as I pulled him closer to me. 

"Fuck." he moaned. 

He pulled out of me and pulled me on top of him. I lifted myself up and lined him up to my entrance once more. 

I slowly slid down on him. We moaned together. 

"Alex." I whined as I circled my hips. 

I raised up and lowered down again then continued circling my hips. 

"So good." I mumbled. 

"That's right baby. Feel all of me." He moaned. 

I began moving up and down continuously and he thrusts his hips up to match my movements. 

"Right there." I moaned as pleasure coursed through my body. 

"So close." I whine as I feel a pleasurable build up in my stomach. 

"Come for me baby." he moaned and moved his hips faster. 

"Alex." I moaned and came undone, my walls clenching around him. His thrusts became sloppier. 

"Fuck! Annie." He moaned and spilled into the condom. 

We rode out our highs together, the sound of our moans and heavy breathing filled the room. 

I collapsed onto his chest when our movements stopped. I moaned weakly as he pulled out of me. 

"That was amazing." I said quietly. 

"Yeah." He smiled. 

He rolled me off of me and got up. 

"Where are you going?" I frowned. 

"I gotta piss." He mumbled walking to the bathroom. 

A couple minutes later he came back and laid down. He pulled me on top of him again. My head rested on his chest as he rubbed my back and kissed my hair. 

"Annie?" He whispered. 

"Hmm?" I asked as I traced my finger up and down is stomach. 

"This is kind of hard for me to say." 

I looked up at him.

"Well, we've been together for almost seven months now and I, well, I uh. Fuck." He said leaving me confused. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and looking at me. 

His lips pressed together in a line before turning into a frown. 

I reached my hand up and touched his cheek softly. 

"Just tell me." I whispered. 

"I love you." He said taking my hand from his cheek and kissing my palm. 

"You mean it?" I asked with tears filling my eyes. 

"One hundred percent." He said with a smile. "Before, I was just so scared that if I said it back then you wouldn't want me anymore. It's dumb. I know." 

"It's not dumb." I said. "I love you too." 

I leaned up and kissed him. My other hand went up and played with his hair. I felt so much closer to him now. Things were definitely looking up for us. 

Though I imagined him saying I love you in a little more romantic setting than lying under a sheet naked, I couldn't have asked for a better night. 

Suddenly, my bedroom door busted open. 

"I'm home! God it smells like sex in here!" Shaylin said walking away but leaving the door open. 

"Shaylin!" I yelled. 

Two people appeared in my doorway moments later. 

"Oh my god." I whispered in horror. 

They had shocked looks on their faces. 

"Get out!" I yelled and they walked away quickly. "Close the door you idiots!" 

Shaylin came by and closed the door finally. 

I looked at Alex. He looked very confused and shocked at what just happened. 

"Who was that?" He asked. 

"My brothers." I said and covered my face.   
_____________________

Ew. Hetero smut. 

FUN FACT: No Control is about Louis having morning wood when waking up next to Harry. Pretty much every song on Four is Larry af. Not even a little bit sorry. 

Anyways, I love you all!!!!

Stay crocs.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
IMPORTANT A/N AT THE END

Alex started laughing. 

"There's nothing funny about this!" I tried scolding him. 

"Not exactly how I planned on meeting your family." He said and I started laughing with him. 

"Get dressed so you can meet them properly." I said getting up. 

"Are you sure they can't wait for just a little longer? I think I'm ready for round two." He said. 

"Alex!" I said playfully smacking his chest. 

"Kidding." He said puckering his lips. 

I smiled and leaned down to kiss him, but he pulled me back down. He flipped us over and pinned my arms above my head. 

"Maybe I wasn't kidding that much." He said kissing me deeply. 

Just as I was about to give into his offer for a round two, my door opened. 

"Liliana Marie Brooks! Your brothers came all this way to see you and you're in here trying to tickle Alex's pickle! Get out here!" Shaylin yelled slamming the door shut. 

I laughed and pushed Alex off of me. 

"You heard the woman. We gotta get out there." I said getting up and dressed as quickly as I could. 

"You coming?" I asked. 

"Yeah. I'll meet you out there." He said sitting on my bed. 

I walked into the living room to find my two older brothers, Caleb and Blake, sitting on the couch by Shaylin. As soon as I entered, she got up and went to her room. 

"Goodnight!" She yelled. 

"Hey guys." I said with a smile. 

"Not exactly how I planned on seeing my baby sister for the first time in three months." Blake said. 

"Sorry." I blushed. 

"Did you use protection?" Caleb asked. Blake hit his arm. 

"Caleb!" I said shocked. 

"What? I'm too young to be a grandpa." He said. 

"You'd be an uncle you idiot." Blake said. 

"Grandpas are cooler than uncles. And besides, I don't want to be an uncle. That kid would get confused having four uncles." Caleb said. 

"No ones going to be an uncle. Or grandpa for that matter. Yes we used protection." I said. "I swear I think that I should be the oldest sometimes."

"Where's the guy?" Blake asked. 

"Getting dressed."

"I gotta size him up. Make sure that he knows that if he hurts a single hair on my baby sisters body that I'll kill him." Blake said. 

If he only knew what happened before. No. That's the past. And that's where thats going to stay. In the past where it belongs. 

Alex emerged from the hallway. 

"Alex, these are my older brothers, Blake and Caleb." I said gesturing to them. "Blake and Caleb, this is Alex, my boyfriend."

Alex held his hand out for them to shake but they didn't do anything. 

"Sorry dude. Considering what we just saw in there, I'm not so sure where your hands have been." Blake said. 

"Sorry." Alex mumbled putting his hand down. 

"Blake quit being an ass." I said. I gestured to the empty space on the couch. "Alex you can sit down."

He looked at them before looking at me and hesitantly sitting down. I smiled at his nervousness before taking a seat on his lap. 

"How long have you guys been dating?" Blake asked. 

"Seven months on the twenty seventh." Alex said. 

"May twenty seventh is grandmas birthday. You better not forget to call her just because you're with him." Caleb spoke again. 

Blake rolled his eyes and looked back at me. 

"How'd you two meet?" Blake spoke. 

"I met her in my finance class back in October." 

"What are your intentions with her?" 

"I love your sister so much. I just want to make her happy." 

I smiled and pecked Alex's lips. 

"You do make me happy." I said. 

"I gotta take a leak." Blake said standing up and walking to the bathroom. 

"I'm sorry that they're giving you the third degree." I whispered to Alex. 

"They're just trying to protect you. It's a brother thing." 

I smiled and kissed him again. 

"If you two are done over there I have a few questions that I would like to ask." Caleb said interrupting our moment. 

"Alright one, why haven't we heard about you before?" 

"It's never came up." I said shrugging. 

"Why didn't he come for Christmas?"

"My aunt was sick and I couldn't afford more than one plane ticket." Alex spoke. 

"Well-" 

"Caleb!" I cut him off. "You were always the cool older brother. Don't change it by asking a bunch of dumb questions please." 

"I am the cool older brother, aren't I?" He said smugly and I rolled my eyes. 

"Alright. No more questions." He said. "But if I hear that you hurt her in any way, shape, or form, I will come for you." 

Blake walked back in the room. 

"I would never hurt her. She means the world to me." Alex said wrapping his arms around my waist. 

I leaned forward and grabbed the remote off of the table and turned on the tv. Stepbrothers was on. When I leaned back, Alex whispered in my ear. 

"Don't move too much." 

"Sorry." I mumbled and he kissed my shoulder. 

By the time the movie finished, it was two thirty. 

"Annie." Alex said softly. 

"Hmm?" 

"I know you're tired and you wanted me to stay, but I should go. Your brothers are here and you should spend time with them." 

"No." I whined. 

"Annie they're your family." 

"Please don't leave me." I frowned. 

"Whenever they leave I promise you I'll come over and we can stay up late, watch movies, and cuddle nonstop." He said kissing the pout on my lips. 

"Okay stop being gross." Caleb groaned and I glared at him. 

"I'll walk you to the door." I mumbled. 

I got up and walked to the door with him following close behind. 

I turned around and leaned against the door. 

"Are you sure I can't persuade you to stay?" I asked biting my lip. 

"I just don't want your family to think that I think I'm more important than them." He said and I frowned again. 

"I love you." He said picking me up. 

I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. 

"I love you too." I whispered before kissing him. 

Our lips moved together perfectly. He licked my bottom lip and I opened my mouth slightly. I moaned quietly as he deepened the kiss. 

"Stay." I mumbled against his lips. 

He pulled away and put me down before kissing my forehead. 

"I love you." He said moving me away from the door. 

"I love you too." I smiled and let him leave. 

I couldn't help the grin that was plastered on my face as I locked the door and walked back to the living room. 

"You two are disgusting." Blake said. 

"Shut up." I said annoyed. 

I sat down on the couch and yawned. 

"So why are you guys here?" I asked. 

"I got a job at the airport, so me and the fam fly free now." Caleb said. 

"We've been wanting to come out here to see you. Shaylin called us saying she had a two hour layover so we packed and got on her flight." Blake spoke. 

"Cool. How long are you guys staying?" 

"I've gotta go back Monday. I don't know about Blake." Caleb said. 

"Alright well, I'm tired. You guys can take my bed and I'll sleep in here." I said. 

"I don't want to sleep in the bed that my baby sister was deflowered in." Caleb said. 

"Then I hope you've never slept in your bed back home." I told him. 

"What?" He said with wide eyes. 

I laughed. "Just kidding. It was in Blake's bed." 

"What?" Blake said equally as shocked as Caleb was. 

I laughed at them. "I'm kidding."

"You better be." 

"I am. Now seriously, where are you going to sleep?"

"Dibs on couch!" Caleb said. 

"Blake you can sleep on the floor in my room. I have a few blankets you can put down." I offered. 

"That works." He said before yawning and walking to my room. 

I walked to the closet by the bathroom in the hallway that we kept our extra blankets, pillows, and towels in. I pulled out a pillow and a comforter and brought it back into the living room for Caleb. 

He was laying down. I covered him up as he put the pillow behind his head. 

"Goodnight Sandwich." I said hugging him and going back to the closet. 

I got four blankets and two pillows for Blake. I walked to my room to see him looking at the pictures on my wall. 

"So you and that Alex kid have been together for a while huh?" He spoke. 

"Yeah." I smiled fondly. 

"You really like him?" 

"I love him." I said and started making his bed for him. 

"Love is a strong word." He mumbled. 

"Annie do you remember when you were in kindergarten and the teacher called me to your classroom because you couldn't stop crying?" He asked suddenly. 

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. 

"Well I was in third grade then. It was the day that we got to have a pizza party because my class got the most cans for the food drive." He said smiling at the memory. 

"So?" 

"Just as I was getting ready to eat some pizza, the teachers phone rang. She told me to go down to Mrs. Peters classroom because you were crying and you wanted your big brother." 

"Okay?"

"So I went down there and you were crying real hard. I asked you what happened and you told me that the other kids were making fun of you because you didn't have a dad."

I remembered that. It was such an awful day. I said that I would never go back to school after that. 

"I remember now." 

"It took forever for me to calm you down." He said laughing. 

"Alright, but what's your point with all of this?" I asked. 

"It was that day that I decided I needed to protect you. It was a lot to take on at nine years old, but I realized that I really had to step up and be the man of the family." He said. 

"Why?" I asked as I finished making the bed. 

"Because when dad died mom took on the role of both parents. That's something no one should have to do, so I helped her. I stepped in as the role of dad I guess." 

"Yeah. You really did." 

"Even when Charlie came along, I still filled dad's shoes because I thought that he might leave us too." 

"But he didn't." I said. 

"I know. But I feel like even today it's my job to protect you and Caleb." 

"You've done a great job. Too good sometimes." 

"I just don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want to disappoint dad."

"I wish I could've known him." I said with a sigh. 

"He loved you a lot." He spoke softly. "You look a lot like him." 

"I know." I whispered. "I'm the only one in the family that came out with brown hair. Even Jake and Lance are blond." 

"I remember one time when you were a baby, I was watching cartoons when I heard you start to cry. You wouldn't stop, so I brought you my stuffed dinosaur and you shut up." He said. "Dad walked in and smiled at me. 'Blake you're such a good big brother.' He said to me." I noticed tears in his eyes. 

"'You remember one thing, alright Blake?' He said and picked us up and sat us in his lap. 'Lily is your sister and its your job to beat up boys that try to get near her.' He said. I must've made a weird face because he laughed at me." Blake said laughing. 

"I told him that boys would never like you because you threw up too much." He laughed again and I joined him. 

"You were wrong." I giggled.

"I know I was wrong because as soon as you turned thirteen and started growing boobs, the guys were all over you." 

"Do you remember when your friend Ty kissed me and you didn't talk to him for a month?" I asked still laughing. 

"Yeah. I think he did it just to get back at me because I beat him in pool." 

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." I said. 

"Look Annie, I just don't want this Alex guy to hurt you. We aren't at home anymore, so I can't kick his ass when he doesn't pick you up for a date or turns out to be with some other girl." He said seriously. 

"Alex isn't like that." I whisper. 

"Just be careful." 

"I promise." 

"Alright now go to bed." He said laying down on the floor. 

I turned off the light and got in bed. 

"Goodnight baby sister."

"Goodnight big brother." 

___________________

Aww how sweet. I've always wanted a brother. 

Cute as a button, every single one of you. Love and hugs!! 

(Meaning behind stay crocs in next a/n)  
Stay crocs


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
CHARACTERS IN THE A/N

"What do you guys wanna do today?" I asked my brothers as we sat on the couch watching tv. 

"Go to the beach." Caleb said and I groaned. 

"That's so boring." 

"Not everyone has the chance to sit in the sand every day." Blake said. 

"I haven't been to the beach in like three months." I said. "It's like getting a new car. Once the dealership smell wears off, it's not as exciting." 

Blake laughed before getting up. He opened his suitcase and pulled out swimming trunks. 

"We're going." He said and walked to  
The bathroom to change. 

"You can change in my room." I said to Caleb. 

He got his bathing suit and walked to my room. 

While I waited for them, I picked up the bowls from our breakfast and put them in the kitchen. 

I walked to Shaylin's room and knocked on the door. 

"Shay we're going to the beach." I said. 

"Bye." I heard her say through the door. 

"Do you wanna come with us?" 

"Fuck off! I'm trying to fucking sleep!" She yelled. 

"Alright fine. I don't know when we'll be back so-" 

"Annie!" 

"I'm going!" I said and walked back to the living room. It wasn't long until Blake came out and sat with me. 

"Why aren't you ready?" He asked. 

"Caleb's in my room." I said. 

"Hey, who's Ashton?" He asked. 

"No one. Why?" I said trying to stay calm. 

"Shaylin was talking about him yesterday like they were dating but then said something about another guy. I was confused." He said just as Caleb walked back out. 

"They aren't dating." I said before I stood and walked to my room. I had a lot of bathing suits. I looked for a while before deciding on a peach colored bikini. 

I got my white sundress and gladiator sandals to go with it. I then packed a bag with a book, change of clothes, sunscreen, and two towels. 

I walked back into the living room to see them sitting on the couch on their phones. 

"You guys are gonna need a towel and a change of clothes." I said putting my purse in my bag. "Towels are in the closet by the bathroom." 

They got their clothes and I put them in my bag, but I made them carry their towels. 

We left the apartment and got to my car. I frowned when I couldn't find my sunglasses. 

"We have to go to my office really quick." I said pulling out of my parking space. 

"Why?" Caleb said from the back seat. 

"I left my sunglasses there." 

"Your music sucks ass." Blake complained turning the station. I cringed at the station that he stopped on. 

"Turn it off." I said immediately. 

"We like this music." 

"You know that I hate it." 

"But-" 

"Blake turn it off or there won't be any music at all." I said loudly. 

"Country isn't that bad." Blake defended. 

"Yes it is. That shit makes me want to throw up." 

He sighed loudly before changing the station to a rock one. 

"Better?" He asked. 

"Much."

It wasn't too much longer until we reached the office building. 

"Stay in here. I'll be right back." I said getting out of the car. 

When I got out, I heard my car shut off and two doors opened. 

I turned around to see Blake and Caleb getting out of the car. 

"I said stay in."

"When have we ever listened to you?" Blake said and locked the doors. 

"Just behave yourselves." I groaned. 

I reached in my purse and got out my employee ID card while we walked to the elevators. 

"Top floor huh? Must be pretty important around here." Caleb said when I pressed the button. 

When the doors opened again, I showed the guard my ID. 

"They're with me." I said walking past him. 

When we got to my office, I unlocked it and let my brothers in. 

"Don't. Touch. Anything." I said sternly. 

"It's nice in here." Caleb said quietly. 

I began to look for my sunglasses. I checked all of my desk drawers before finding them in the last one. 

"Let's go." I said getting up. 

"Annie?" I heard from the door. 

I looked up to see Mr. Irwin standing there. 

"Hi." I said. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked. 

"I uh, forgot my uh, sunglasses." I said fumbling with my words. For some reason it felt like I just got caught sneaking out. 

"Oh. Going to the beach?" He asked. 

"How'd you know?" 

"You looked like you were dressed in beach attire." He shrugged. 

Someone cleared their throat. 

"Oh um right. Mr. Irwin, these are my brothers, Blake and Caleb." I said gesturing to them. It was only seconds before I realized that I said the wrong names when I pointed. 

"Caleb and Blake." I said correcting myself. "Guys, this is my boss." 

Why was I so nervous?

"You can call me Ashton." He smiled shaking their hands. 

"Uh we're gonna go." I said awkwardly. 

"Alright, well, have a nice time." He said smiling. 

"We will." Caleb said returning his smile. 

We all walked out of my office and I locked the door once again. 

"Oh, and, Annie." Mr. Irwin said from behind me and I turned around. 

"Yeah?" 

"You look lovely today." He said and walked away. 

My jaw slightly dropped as a blush rose on my cheeks. Thank goodness he wasn't there to see it. 

"Let's go." I mumbled walking to the elevator once again. 

"So that guy, Ashton, he's your boss?" Blake asked as we rode in the elevator. 

"Yeah." 

"My boss never says that I look lovely." Caleb frowned. 

"That's because your boss doesn't want to lie to you." I said with a smile on my face. 

"Wow you're so funny. You should be a comedian." He said sarcastically. 

I laughed as we got out of the elevator and walked to the car again. We were on our way to the beach before I remembered I wanted to get something to drink. 

I pulled into the next gas station I saw. I pulled twenty dollars out of my wallet and gave it to Caleb. 

"I want a Smart Water and a pack of spearmint gum. Get whatever you and Blake want." I said putting on my sunglasses. 

"I want a purple Gatorade." Blake said and Caleb got out of the car. 

Blake turned down the radio before looking at me. 

"Do you like Ashton?" He blurted out. 

"Yeah. He's a great boss. He's never mean to me and-" 

"No. I mean do you like like him?"

"Are we in fourth grade? No I don't like like him. He's my boss." I said. 

"That doesn't mean you can't like him." 

"Well I don't." 

"Are you guys hooking up or something?" 

"What? No! Where the hell is all this coming from?" I asked annoyed. 

"I lied earlier. Shaylin didn't say anything about Ashton last night." 

My breath hitched in my throat. "Then why'd you ask about him?"

"You still talk in your sleep." He said. 

"I- I do?" I stuttered. 

"Yeah, and last night you just kept saying something about Ashton. It didn't make sense."

"What did I say?"

"I don't know. The only thing that I could understand was his name. You would say 'Ashton I-' or 'Ashton we-' and then start mumbling."

"Oh. I was dreaming about Ashton Kutcher." I sighed with a little relief. Nothing bad happened. 

"Are you sure? Because that's not the worst part." He said and my heart started beating harder. 

"What's the worst part?"

"'Ashton.'" He moaned with his voice in a higher octave. 

"Oh god why?" I said and put my hands over my face. 

"'Ashton you're so good.'" He continued the mocking. 

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?" I said shaking my head. 

"'You're amazing Ashton.'" He tortured me even more. 

"Please stop!" 

"Alright I'm done." He laughed. 

"Good." I pouted. 

"But seriously, what's going on there?" He asked. 

"It's Ashton Kutcher and I think most of the female population dreams about him. Happy?" 

"Not really. How would Alex feel about this?" He asked. 

Old Alex would get mad and hit me. I'm not so sure what new Alex would.

"He'd probably think it was my boss and get pissed." I said as I saw Caleb walking out of the gas station. 

"Not another word of this." I said turning up the radio. 

"My lips are sealed." He said pretending the zip them and lock it. I put my hand out and he gave me the imaginary key. 

I laughed at him. "What took you so long, Sandwich?" I asked Caleb once he got in the car. 

"Three things. One, I couldn't decide what I wanted. Two, I swear the line wrapped around the store twice." He said. 

"What's the third thing?" I asked starting to drive again. 

"The cashier was super hot." 

"You're such a guy." I said rolling my eyes. 

"I would sure hope so. Otherwise, this thing hangin' between my legs needs to be removed." He said laughing. 

"You're fucking disgusting." I said turning up the radio louder so I didn't have to hear him. 

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet aside from the humming or singing. 

It wasn't long until we pulled into the parking lot of the beach I always went to with Shaylin. 

I shut off my car and we all got out. 

I asked Caleb if he got the bag and he held it up. I locked the car and we started walking. 

Since it was Saturday, it was fairly busy. It was five or ten minutes before we finally found a spot that wasn't too crowded. 

I laid out my towel before taking off my shoes and sundress. 

"Have fun." I said to the guys as they walked off. 

I got the sunscreen out and sprayed myself before sitting down. When I said that the beach was boring, I meant it. 

I didn't particularly like swimming in the ocean, and seeing guys acting like tools wasn't what I would choose to do with my day. 

I started to people watch as I thought about things. 

It surprised me how cool with everything Blake was. It worried me. He's always been so overprotective before. I'm not sure what's changed, but it can't be good. 

Maybe he was taking the stealthy approach. He was a lion waiting, ready to attack his prey at any moment. But who was the prey? Me or Alex? Or maybe both?Brothers are confusing. 

I sighed and remembered my dream from last night. It definitely wasn't about Ashton Kutcher. It was about Ashton Fletcher Irwin, CEO of Irwin Incorporated's American branch. 

I really had to stop dreaming about him. It's not my fault that he's attractive though. 

I can't help it that when he smiles he has the cutest dimples, or when he laughs it's never the same laugh two times in a row. Not to mention his hands. They were so muscular and his fingers were so long. His hair is probably one of my favorite things about him. The way that it's blond, but not too blond. And how it's curly, but not too curly. Don't even get me started on his biceps. God his biceps. He was just stunning. Everything about him was great. 

'He's your boss.' My subconscious reminded me. 

I sighed and laugh down on my stomach. I undid the straps of my bikini that went around my neck so I wouldn't have a weird tan line. 

I pulled my book out of my bag and began to read. Getting lost in a fictional world seemed to be the only way to forget about my real life problems. 

_________________

CHARACTERS:  
Liliana Brooks- Willa Holland  
Ashton Irwin- Ashton Irwin  
Shaylin Miller- Demi Lovato   
Alex Andrews- Alex Ramos  
Katie Novak- Indiana Evans  
Luke Hemmings- Luke Hemmings  
Calum Hood- Calum Hood  
Michael Clifford- Michael Clifford  
Blake Brooks- Evan Peters (blond)  
Caleb Brooks- James McVey

I have nothing against Alex Ramos. I love him and I think he's super funny. I in no way think that's he's abusive or am suggesting that he might be abusive. His face just fits the character best. 

I lub yew. 

Stay crocs.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After the guys were done doing whatever the hell they did at the beach, we got dressed and went shopping. 

"Where do you want to eat?" I asked as I put my bags in the back seat next to Caleb. 

"B dubs." He said as I got in the car again. 

"Really Sandwich? Of all places you choose b dubs?" I said looking at him. 

"Yup." 

"B dubs?" I asked Blake and he nodded. 

"B dubs it is." I said starting the car and driving. 

"What'd you get anyways?" Caleb asked from the back seat. 

"Stuff." I shrugged. 

"Alright Miss Secretive. I didn't wanna know anyways." 

About ten minutes later, we pulled into the restaurant parking lot. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted. 

"Welcome to Buffalo Wild Wings." A guy said. "Three of you?" 

I nodded and he grabbed menus and took us to a table. 

"My name is Jordan, I'll be taking care of you today. Can I start you off with some drink?" 

"I'll have water." I said. 

He wrote that down before asking my brothers what they wanted. 

"Alright. I'll be right back with those." He said and walked away. 

"I don't like that guy." Caleb said. 

"Why?" I asked him. 

"Because he was practically drooling over you." 

"Stop being so paranoid, Sandwich." I said rolling my eyes. 

"It's weird that you still call me Sandwich." 

"Why?" 

"Because I was a sophomore when you started calling me that." 

"So?" 

"So, six years ago I fell down in the hallway and your friend thought that I was a sandwich. Six years." 

"And then you went as a sandwich for halloween that year. Just face it, you'll always be sandwich to me." 

Before he could reply, our waiter came back, setting down our drinks. 

"Are you ready to order?" He asked. 

"We still need a minute." I said politely. 

"Alrighty then. Take your time."

"We will Ace." Caleb said rudely. 

Jordan looked confused, but walked away. 

I glared at Caleb. 

"What?" He shrugged. 

"Ace? Are you serious?" 

"He said alrighty then." 

"I know what he said." 

"He's Ace Ventura, Pet Detective." 

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're fucking stupid." 

We looked at the menus before knowing what we wanted, and when Jordan came back, we ordered. 

"So, does your job pay well?" Blake asked. 

"Yeah. I get twenty dollars an hour and I work ten hours a day, five days a week." 

"That's like..." Caleb paused trying to do math. 

"Roughly a thousand a week, four thousand a month." I said. 

"Yeah. I was getting to that." 

"Sure you were." I teased. 

"What do you do around there anyways?" He asked. 

"Well, I organize Mr. Irwin's meetings, check all of his reports, send out emails, filter the emails that he gets, look for businesses that I think that we need to handle better, look for new businesses, just a lot of different things. I'm his executive assistant" 

"How long have you been working their?"

"Almost two months I think." I said after a while. It was weird. I felt like I'd known Mr. Irwin for longer than that. 

"Cool." 

I was about to talk again when I felt my phone buzzing. It was Kyle. 

"Hey Kyle." I said answering. 

"Hey." Kyle spoke. 

"What's up?" 

"Uh, do you wanna come over for dinner tomorrow?" He asked. 

"Tomorrow?" 

"Yeah." 

"Sure. What time?" 

"Uh, I don't know. I can pick you up if you want." 

"You don't have to. I think I still remember how to get there." I said before taking a drink of water. 

"I'll pick you up." 

"Okay. What time should I be ready?" I asked. 

"Is three good?" 

"Yeah sure." 

"Okay great. I'll see you tomorrow." He said and hung up before I could reply. 

I smiled before putting my phone down. I looked up to see my brothers with confused looks on their faces. 

"What?" 

"Who's Kyle?" 

"My friend." I shrugged. 

"So where are you going tomorrow?" Caleb asked. 

"To his parents house with him." 

"Why?"

"Because when I first moved out here they helped me feel less homesick, and I haven't seen them in forever." 

"Oh." 

Before I could answer, Jordan came back with our wings. 

"Thank you." I smiled as he set down my plate. 

"No problem. Just let me know if you need anything." He said and walked away. 

"Will you stop flirting with him?" Caleb said in an annoyed tone. 

"It's called being polite. You should try it sometimes." 

He rolled his eyes at me and started eating. 

"Why do you always get boneless?" Blake asked. 

"We've went over this, I don't appreciate all of that little stuff next to the bone. It's gross." I said. 

"But it takes away all the fun of eating a chicken wing. It's just like you're eating a tiny sauce covered chicken strip." 

"Blake I don't agree with you on what's fun to eat and what isn't." 

"I know a few things that we both enjoy eating." He smirked. 

"Stop being gross." I glared. 

"Are you guys talking about puss-" 

"No!" I cut Caleb off. 

"Yes we are." Blake said still smirking. 

I groaned.

"Annie's into girls?" Caleb asked shocked. 

"Well I walked in on her and her friend Melissa kissing once, so I've always assumed that she was." Blake said. 

"How did I not know this?" Caleb had a smile on his face now. 

"It's not something that I need to broadcast to the world." I said. 

"But my baby sister likes chicks. Why haven't we been talking about hot girls this whole time?" He asked. 

"Sandwich, it's not that big of a deal." 

"Yes it fucking is. Why did you get to have girls spend the night and I didn't? Does mom know? Is Alex just a beard? Are you a lesbian?"

"Mom doesn't know, and she's not going to find out. And no Alex isn't a beard, dumb ass." 

"Then what is he?" 

"My boyfriend." 

"But aren't you a lesbian?" 

"No. Would you please calm down? People are starting to look." I said trying to quiet him. 

"Okay, I'm sorry. This is just like the first thing we've had in common. So, what's your label exactly?"

I rolled my eyes before answering. "I'm bi." 

"Oh." He said disappointed. 

"What?" 

"You're still into dudes." He frowned and I laughed at him. 

"Just eat your food." 

"I'm going to, but one more question." He said. 

"What?" 

"Have you and Shaylin hooked up?" He said. 

"What? She's my best friend!" I said appalled that he would even suggest that. 

"With benefits?" 

"No!" 

"Promise?" 

"I. Have. Not. Hooked. Up. With. Shaylin." I said annoyed. 

"But-" 

"Caleb!" I said loudly and people turned to look at me. 

I gave an apologetic smile and turned backed to my brothers. 

"I like girls. They're hot and aren't complete idiots like guys. However, I like guys too. They're super tall and yummy and they feel nice when they're inside of-" 

"Whoa! Too much!" Blake said. 

"I was going to say inside a blanket burrito with me, but yeah. Your thing too. Anyways, I'm into dudes and chicks but I prefer guys. It's not a big deal. Lots of people are bisexual."

"One more question." Caleb said. 

"What?" 

"Did you hooked up with any of my girlfriends?" He asked. 

"I'm into girls that are smart." I shrugged. 

"My girlfriends were smart!" 

"No dude. Don't even try." Blake said. 

"So they didn't pass some of their classes and sometimes had trouble with their lefts and rights. That doesn't mean that they were dumb."

Me and Blake gave him a knowing look. 

"Alright, so maybe they were dumb, but they were easy." 

"Another reason why guys are disgusting." I mumbled. 

"Not all guys." Blake said. 

"Sorry, that's why straight guys are disgusting." I corrected myself. 

"Not all straight guys." 

"Blake, honestly, most guys are just thinking about sex when it comes to a girl." I said. 

"But there's some that just want to cuddle at night." He said. 

"Yeah. The gay ones." Caleb mumbled. 

"Don't use gay as a derogative term." I said. 

"Sorry." He held his hands up in defense. 

"Whatever. I'm done talking about this." 

Jordan came back a few minutes later. 

"Can I get you a box?" He asked setting the bill on the table. 

"Yeah." I said and he walked away. I pulled out my credit card and put it in the little folder. 

"That guy, he's disgusting." Caleb said. 

"What the hell is your problem today?" I asked. 

"Nothing." 

Before I could answer, Jordan came back with a box for my food. 

He didn't just hand the box to me though, he boxed up my food for me and put it in a bag. 

"Thank you." I smiled. 

"No problem." He said and took the check away. 

It wasn't long until he returned with my card and we left. 

"Where to now?" Blake said in the car. 

"Home." I said. 

"Boring." Caleb groaned. 

"It's almost four and Shaylin is probably hungry." I said. 

"So? Shaylin's a woman. She can feed herself." 

"Shaylin is my best friend and I take care of my best friends." I said. 

When we arrived back at my apartment, I found Shaylin still asleep in her room. 

I jumped on her bed. 

"Wake up wake up wake up!" I said. 

"Annie." She said hitting me. 

"Shaylin, you're my best friend and I love you." I sang. 

"Annie!" 

"Shaylin! You are the light of my life. I'm so glad we met over the Internet and you weren't a creepy old man." I continued my song. 

"Fuck off!" She yelled and pushed me off of the bed. 

"Ouch." I pouted on the floor. 

"Go away." She said, her voice muffled by the pillow. 

"Fine. I guess that I'll eat those wings then." 

"What?" She immediately perked up. 

"We went to b dubs and I got extra wings so I could bring some home to you, but I guess you don't want it." I said walking out of her room. 

I went to the living room and sat on the couch. 

"Where's Shaylin?" Blake asked. 

"Three, two." And on cue she walked through the door way. 

"Where's my wings?" She asked and I pointed to the table. 

"Thanks." She mumbled picking up the box. 

"Who's Jordan?" She asked. 

"What?" 

"Jordan. Whoever it is, you got their number." She said. 

"Ha! I knew it!" Caleb shouted. "I knew that he was into you!" 

"Is he cute?" Shaylin asked. 

"He was alright." I shrugged. 

"Alright like 'I'm saying alright because I have a boyfriend, but hot damn.' or alright like he wasn't hot hot but he wasn't ugly either?" She said. 

"He was like a seven and a half." I said. 

"I'll take it." She said and went back to her room. 

@@@@@@@@@@

"Where are you going?" Shaylin asked I was getting ready. 

"Kyle's picking me up. We're going to his parents house for dinner." I said. 

"Dinner at three?" She asked looking at her phone. 

"Well yeah. I guess." I shrugged. "Have you seen my converse?"

"White or black?" 

"Black."

"They're in my room." 

"Why?" 

"Because it's not a crime for me to wear your shoes and you wore my black dress last week." 

"How'd you-" 

"I didn't, but you just told me." She smiled. "I thought that I hung it up in the back of my closet, but it was in the front." 

"What the hell? You never remember that stuff!" 

"I think you underestimate me sometimes." She said walking out of my room. 

I was wearing a blue Nirvana shirt with a pair of black denim shorts. My hair was down being its boring straight self. 

I heard a knock on the door. 

"I got it!" I heard Caleb yell. 

"Caleb stop!" I said walking in the hallway. 

"Hello, welcome to hell." He said opening the door. 

"Uh, is Annie here?" I heard Kyle's voice. 

"No she moved." Caleb said. 

"I did not move." I said from behind him. I pushed Caleb to the side and looked up at Kyle. 

"Come in." I smiled opening the door wider. "I just have to steal my shoes back from Shaylin." 

"Alright."

I walked to Shaylin's room in hope of finding my shoes. I opened her closet to see that the bottom was a mess. 

I groaned and bent over to look for them. When I couldn't find them, I went to the side of Shaylin's bed where she put her stuff at sometimes. 

"Oh my god." I whispered. 

There was a mountain of clothes sitting on the floor. 

"Shaylin come get my shoes!" I yelled. 

"No!" 

"Shaylin!" 

"No!"

"Shaylin Marie!" 

"Liliana Marie!" 

I walked to the living room to see Shaylin sitting on the couch by Kyle. 

"Go find my shoes." I said. 

"No. Find your own shoes." 

"Shaylin I swear if you don't find my shoes I'll-" 

"You'll what?"

I smiled and turned my head slightly to the side. 

"I don't like this look." Shaylin said quietly. "I'll go get your shoes." 

"Thanks doll. Love you lots." I said as she walked away. 

"What was that?" Kyle asked. 

"Normally when I give her that look I attack her afterward." I said sitting next to him. 

"Sorry I was late." He said. 

"It's fine. I just finished getting ready anyways." 

"So you've met Caleb?" I asked. 

"Yeah." He laughed. 

"Blake went out, but he's here too."

"Cool." 

"Here!" Shaylin said throwing my shoes at me. I caught one managed not to let the other one hit me in the face. 

I put my converse on and grabbed my purse from the coffee table. I checked to make sure that everything was in there before telling Kyle that we could go. 

"Haven't seen you in a while." He said when we got in the elevator. 

"I've been kind of busy." 

"How are you and Alex?" He asked. 

"We're good. He's getting better about stuff I think." 

"So now that I can actually talk to you, how's Irwin Incorporated?"

"Great. I got a promotion. It pays really well, and my boss is pretty cool." 

"That's great." He said as we got to the car. 

"Yeah." I said awkwardly. 

We got in the car and he started the half hour drive. 

"So your dad said that you had a girlfriend?" I asked. 

"Uh, not at the moment I don't." 

"Oh. Sorry." 

"Nah, we weren't really together. There was some confusion with the whole thing."

"Oh." 

"Yeah." 

"So uh, read any good books lately?" I asked and seconds later we both started laughing. 

"You still have that great sense of humor." He said still chuckling. 

"I love this song." I said turning up the radio. I sang along quietly. 

"You like Nirvana still?" He asked turning the radio down when the song was over. 

"Seriously?" I asked him. 

"What? Oh." 

"Wow." I laughed. 

"Sorry that I was trying not to stare at your tits." 

"Thank you?"

"You're still dating Alex. Dudes before Gertrudes." He said.

"Dudes before Gertrudes?" 

"You're not a hoe, so the term bros before hoes doesn't apply."

"Aww Kyle." I said pinching his cheek. 

"Don't mess with the driver!" He scolded me. 

"Whatever. You know you love it when I pinch your cheeks." 

"Not the ones on my face." He said quietly. 

"Kyle!" 

"I'm kidding." He laughed. 

"Good."

"Kinda." 

"Kyle!" 

He started laughing harder and I couldn't keep a straight face any longer. 

"You're such an idiot." I giggled. 

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." 

"Yeah whatever." 

"I've really missed you Ann." He smiled. 

"I missed you too Ky."

_______________________

I love you more than Harry loves Louis!!

Stay crocs.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Kyle stop it." I said backing away from him. 

He kept walking slowly toward me. 

"Kyle please don't do this." I said as I backed into a tree. 

"Nowhere to go now Ann." He said evilly. 

"No!" I yelled running around the tree and to the other side of the backyard. 

"Maximum power!" He yelled and I felt cold water on my back. 

I screamed as I got to the table where the water guns were. I turned around and attempted to shoot him with it.

"You missed!" He shouted. 

I ran around trying to escape the torture that was known as the water hose. 

"Kyle stop!" I yelled. 

"No I'm winning!" 

"This isn't a game!" 

"Then why am I winning?" He laughed. 

"Kyle!" I heard a yell from the back door. "You give Annie that hose!" 

"But mom-" he protested. 

"Now." 

He pouted, but walked over to me and gave me the hose. 

"Thanks Alison!" I said smiling at her. 

"No problem sweetie." She said and walked back inside. 

"Who's winning now Kyle?" I said with a sinister grin. 

"Annie lets just talk about this. We can work it out like the civil adults that we are." He said slowly backing away from me. 

"What was that you said earlier?" I asked turning the nozzle on the hose. "Oh right. Maximum power!" 

I pulled the trigger and sprayed Kyle while he ran away screaming like a little girl. 

***Ashton's POV***

"Katie do we have to go to your parents house today?" I asked as we got into my car. 

"Yes Ashton. It's Sunday dinner, and they haven't seen you in forever." 

"It's only been two weeks." I shrugged. 

"Let's not make it three." She said. "Oh and we have to go to the mall. I need some stuff." 

She turned on the radio to a pop station. I rolled my eyes and groaned internally. It's not that I despised the whole pop industry, but it wasn't really my style. 

I drove to the mall which I would soon own. 

"This is gonna be mine soon." I said pulling into the parking lot. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Annie knows the guy that owns it. He signed it right over when he found out that she worked for me." 

"Does everything you do revolve around that bitch?" She said harshly. 

"Didn't we just go over this? I don't like her. She's not even the slightest bit attractive to me. She's my coworker and nothing else." I lied. I was attracted to Annie, but who wouldn't be?

"Then stop talking about her!" She raised her voice slightly. "And don't talk to her anymore." 

I laughed. "Katie you're being ridiculous. I work with her. She's my assistant. How am I supposed to not talk to her?" 

"Can we just go?" She asked getting out of the car. 

I didn't say anything, but I followed her out of the car. 

I walked around with her for a while as she shopped. She bought a few things and I bought some stuff for her. 

"Can we go to Vic's?" She asked. 

"I guess." I sighed. 

I hated going into Victoria's Secret. It smelled like someone overdid it on the perfume, and girls always stared at me when I was in there. 

We walked in and the smell hit me. All of the perfumes in one. Individually they were alright, but all together they smelled like an old woman in a casino. 

I followed her around as she looked at different things. 

"What about this?" She asked holding up a bra and underwear set. 

"It's fine." I lied. Red lace wasn't my thing. 

She held up another. 

"This one?"

"Fine." 

"Just fine?" 

"Yeah." 

She groaned before looking at me. 

"What?" 

"Are you gonna be an ass all day?" She asked. 

"I'm not being an ass." 

"Yes you are." She said. 

"Do you want me to be a horn dog and try to fuck you in the change room?" I said loudly. 

People turned to look at me. 

"I'll be in the car." I said walking out. 

I walked through all of the people and made it to the doors. I hesitated before leaving. I felt kind of bad for leaving Katie like that, but it didn't matter. 

When I got outside, I realized that I forgot where I parked. 

"Great. Just fucking great." I groaned. 

I pressed the alarm button for my car and followed the sound to it. 

I got in and turned on the car. Katie's pop shit came on and I put in Nirvana's Nevermind album. I exhaled peacefully as good music finally played in my car. 

I unlocked my phone to check my emails. I smiled at my home screen. 

It was a picture of Annie and I. The picture was taken the day before she left me to go back to her apartment. 

She drew a mustache on her finger and was putting it on her lip trying to imitate me. I laughed at her and drew one on my own finger. I put it up to my lip and did my imitation of her. 

We laughed at each other and I eventually pulled out my phone to take a picture. Even though we were both making funny faces, she looked great in it. Her green eyes stood out and her hair was down. 

It was one of the best pictures on my phone. I had others of her, but this one was my favorite. 

I went to my pictures and looked through them. There was one where she was watching a movie, and she looked really concentrated. Her lip was in between her teeth and her brow was furrowed. It was cute the way that she did that. 

There were lots of things that were cute about her. The way that she had to smell something before she ate it, how when she sleeps she constantly moves unless she's cuddling with something, and the way she looked when she first woke up. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were read, and she had a pout on her lips. 

I smiled fondly at the memory of her waking up next to me before I heard a knock on the window. 

I quickly locked my phone and looked up to see Katie's hands full of bags. I unlocked the car and she got in and put her stuff in the back. 

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly. 

"Yeah. I'm sorry about earlier." I said turning down the music. 

"I thought we were okay."

"We are. I've just been stressed and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have."

"My parents called a few minutes ago. They need us to stop by the grocery store and get some stuff."

"Alright." I said pulling out of the parking lot and driving again. 

After a while, she asked me to pull into a grocery store and she went in.

When she came back out, we started the drive to her parents house. 

It was quiet and so awkward. Neither of us said a word and I was too afraid to turn up the radio because I didn't want her to change it. 

About twenty minutes after that awkward silence, I pulled into her parents driveway. 

It was a nice house. It was in one of those neighborhoods where all of the houses looked almost exactly the same. 

When we got out of the car, I looked around in hopes of seeing a way to escape that could later be justified. There was none. No cats stuck in trees or dogs on the loose. 

I didn't like Katie's parents. They weren't rude to me, and they liked the fact that I was with Katie. 

The problem was that they only cared for the money. They never asked me how I was doing or how my family was. They never even mentioned my relationship with Katie. 

It was always 'How's the business Ashton?' or 'I heard Irwin Incorporated dropped on the stock markets. Is everything okay?' 

Another thing was that they were so uptight all the time. They were never dressed casual. Sunday was one of the only days that I could wear whatever I wanted, but when I had to go to dinner with Katie's parents, it was like I was at work again. 

I didn't realize that I had walked to the door until I heard my name. 

"Ashton." Mrs. Novak smiled pulling me into a hug. 

"Hi." I said quietly. 

"Ashton. Good to see you son." Mr. Novak said while he shook my hand. 

"You too sir." I said. 

We walked inside and sat down in their family room. 

Katie talked with her parents for a while before I heard my name. 

"Ashton are you okay dear? You seem a bit off." Mrs. Novak said. 

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry. It's just really nice outside and I've been cooped up inside all week." I said. It was kind of true. I was inside most of the week, but I wasn't unhappy. I was with Annie. 

"Then let's move this little party to the patio." Mr. Novak suggested. 

Without a word everyone stood up and walked outside to sit on the patio. 

There was a lot of noise coming from their neighbors house. 

"So Ashton how's the business going?" 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes before answering. "Great. We actually just got a big-" I was cut off by a scream. 

"Uh, as I was saying before, uh, we got a uh." I couldn't get my mind straight. The neighbors were loud. "Sorry."

"I'll tell them to quiet down." Mr. Novak said getting up. 

"No no. I got it. I'll be back in a minute." I told him. 

I stood up and walked to the gate that linked the two yards together. I was sure that they didn't use it much because it squeaked loudly when I opened it. 

"Hey guys, don't let me be a buzzkill. I just came over to ask if you guys could-" the people turned around and looked at me. "Annie?"

"Mr. Irwin." She said dropping a water hose. "W- what are you doing here?" she stuttered. 

"Katie's parents live next door." I explained. I resisted the urge to bite my lip. Annie was wearing a bikini top and shorts that were short and clinging to her. 

"Uh, Mr. Irwin, this is Kyle." She said pointed to the guy next to her. 

"Hughes?" I asked. 

"Yeah." She said shyly. 

"Ash is everything okay?" I heard Katie say walking up next to me. 

"Yeah."

"Hey that's the girl from your work. I never did catch your name." Katie said and Annie looked panicked. 

"I uh, it's, my name. Uh, it's, I'm." Annie stuttered. She took a deep breath and spoke again. "Annie. I'm Annie."

Katie's jaw dropped. 

"You? You're Annie?" She said angrily. 

Annie nodded and put her head down. Katie said nothing. 

Katie's parents walked over the same time that the back door opened revealing Mr. Hughes and who I assumed to be his wife. 

"Rich! How are you?" Mr. Hughes said with a smile. 

"I'm fine." Katie's dad said. 

"Mr. Irwin I agreed to sign you the mall. It's a little extreme to follow me home isn't it?" Mr. Hughes joked. 

"Just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't change your mind." I played along. 

"You know, I think that Alison made a little bit too much food. Would you like to stay for dinner?" He asked. 

I looked at Annie who was standing there trying to cover herself with her arms. 

"I would love to, but I'm going to have dinner with the Novak's tonight." 

"I don't see a reason why we can't have everyone come over. There's enough grub for everyone! Come on in." He said. 

Hesitantly, Mr. and Mrs. Novak walked toward the house.

I looked over to Katie who still had a shocked look on her face. 

"Are we really doing this?" She asked. 

"I don't want to be rude." I shrugged. 

With a clenched jaw, she walked away after her parents. When she was well in front of me, I walked over to Annie.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly. 

"Mark invited me over." She said and turned away from me. "Kyle I need you to be my boyfriend." 

"What?" He said shocked. 

"Pretend to be my boyfriend. Please." She begged. 

"What? Why?" 

"That's his girlfriend and she has some crazy idea that I'm with Mr. Irwin and I'm not. She was talking psycho about me to me yesterday." 

"But-" 

"Kyle if you value my life, you'll be my boyfriend again for the next few hours."

"Are you gonna pinch my cheeks?" He asked. 

"Kyle!" 

"I'm kidding." He laughed. "I'll do it."

"Let's go inside." She mumbled. 

I followed them both inside of the house. 

"We're gonna dry off." Annie said before walking up the stairs. 

I walked into the living room and saw everyone sitting. Everyone was talking, but Katie looked uncomfortable. 

The next few hours were going to be very interesting. 

_______________

Anywhore, have I told you that I love you? Because I do. 

Stay crocs.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

UPDATING IN HONOR OF THIS WONDERFUL SNOW DAY THAT MOTHER NATURE HAS BLESSED ME WITH

***Ashton's POV***

We were all sat around a table in the Hughes' dining room. I was sitting in between Katie and her mom. Across from me was Annie with Kyle on one side of her and Katie's dad on the other. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes occupied the ends of the table. 

I looked over to Katie who was glaring at Annie. Annie was looking down awkwardly at her plate. 

"So uh, how was everyone's week?" Mr. Hughes asked. 

No one spoke. 

"It was great. I've had a pretty relaxed week and I took some time off of work. When I went back on Friday, you agreed to sign the mall to me, so that made everything great." I said. 

"You took time off of work?" Katie asked. 

"Uh, yeah."

"Why?" She pressed. 

"I wasn't feeling well." I said. 

"You could've called me. I would've taken care of you."

"I didn't want to bother you."

"So Annie, you and Kyle are together?" Katie asked. 

"Yeah." Annie said quietly. 

"How long?"

"Almost eleven months." Kyle answered. 

"How'd you meet?" She asked. 

Annie looked at Kyle and smiled fondly. 

"He showed me around campus last summer." 

"Campus? So you're in college still?" Katie asked rudely. 

"Uh no. I graduated in March."

"And you got a job so soon out of college. Interesting." 

"She's very smart Katie. She's actually overqualified for the job that she does." I spoke. 

"What makes her so special?" Katie asked with envy dripping in her tone. 

"Not everyone can graduate from college at nineteen." I said taking a bite of food. 

"Nineteen?" She said shocked. 

I nodded. 

Katie mumbled something under her breath and continued eating. 

"So uh Ashton, may I call you Ashton?" Mr. Hughes spoke. 

"Of course." I smiled. 

"Alright, Ashton, I'd like to get to know who I'm signing my life over to. What do you like to do in your free time?" He asked. 

I thought for a moment. "I don't have much free time, but I like music. So I guess that I like listening to music."

"Anything else?" 

"I recently got into watching Jim Carrey and Disney movies." I said. I gave a discreet wink to Annie and she blushed. 

Kyle whispered something to Annie and she giggled. 

"What made that start?" He asked. 

"Just wanted to start reliving my childhood I guess." 

Mr. Hughes smiled and turned to his wife. 

"I think we made a great decision." He said. 

I smiled in appreciation. 

We finished dinner and moved to the living room. 

"Kyle, why don't you take our guests to the game room so the adults can talk." Mrs. Hughes suggested. 

"Annie's the only one not an adult." Katie muttered to herself. 

"Sure mom." He smiled. 

Annie's eyes lit up as she walked to a door down the hallway. 

"Come on!" She said excitedly. 

"Ann calm down." Kyle laughed as they walked through the doorway. 

I frowned slightly at the nickname. 

Katie and I followed and walked down the stairs. I closed the door behind me. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Annie flipped a light switch and the basement came into view. 

"Wow." I said quietly. 

"It's cool right?" Annie said walking around. 

"It's cool right." Katie mocked Annie quietly. 

"There's a pool table, air hockey table, Xbox, wii, play station. They've got like everything down here." Annie said excitedly. 

I smiled widely at her. It was adorable how enthusiastic she got over the little things. 

When she turned away from me, I was elbowed in the side by Katie. 

"What?" 

"I wanna go."

"We aren't going to be rude." I said and walked over to the pool table. "Anyone fancy a game?"

"Yeah." Kyle and Annie replied. 

"Katie?"

"Whatever."

"We can play couples." Kyle spoke. 

"Great idea." I said and grabbed two pool sticks off the wall. I handed one to Katie before chalking the end of mine. 

As Kyle racked the balls, Annie prepared both of their pool sticks. I saw her rubbing her hands on something white. 

"What is that?" I asked. 

"Oh, uh it's chalk. You put it on your hands so the cue doesn't stick. It's kind of like how gymnasts put chalk on their hands before bars so they swing easier." She explained. 

"Cool." I said. 

"You guys break." Kyle said stepping away from the table. 

"Ladies first." I said stepping out of Katie's way. 

She hit the cue ball and the balls split apart slightly at the opposite end of the table. 

"I got this Ky." Annie said. 

I watched as she expertly hit the white ball. 

"We're stripes." She said taking another shot. 

She sunk two more shots before she missed one. 

"Didn't know that I was up against the pool master." I said trying to line up a shot. 

As expected, I missed. 

"You got this." She said to Kyle. He made one ball in and scratched the second time. 

"You're up Kate." I said. 

She went to shoot, but missed the cue completely. 

I chuckled and saw Annie and Kyle trying to hold back a laugh. 

Katie sighed heavily before trying again. This time she hit it, but missed the other ball. 

Katie had a frown on her face when she walked over to me. She wrapped an arm around me and nuzzled her face in my shoulder. 

I wrapped my arm around her waist as we waited for Annie to be done with her shot. 

She walked around to the side of the table where I stood and bent over to make her shot. 

I bit my lip and tried not to react in any drastic way. Her short were short, and made her legs look great. It wasn't only her legs that looked great though. 

My thoughts quickly drifted off to dirty things. The thought of her bent over my knee as she whined for me to spank her wouldn't get out of my mind. Thinking of her ass with my hand prints temporarily on it made me intake a sharp breath. 

"Are you okay?" Katie asked looking up at me. 

"Yeah. I just remembered that I have a meeting tomorrow." I lied. 

"Eight ball in the left corner pocket." Annie said. 

"Impossible." I said. 

"I think you underestimate me sir." She said. 

I watched as she brought her arm back hitting the cue ball. Just like that, Annie and Kyle won the game. The ball went into the pocket. 

"Did we just get hustled?" I said looking at the table and seeing that all of the solid colored balls remained there. 

"Kyle and I played pool every day for a month the summer that we met. I have a pool table back home too." She said. 

"What now?" Kyle asked. 

"I think we're gonna go." Katie said suddenly. 

"Oh, well it was nice meeting you." Kyle said. "I'll show you out."

He walked us up the stairs and to the living room. 

"Mom, dad, we're leaving." Katie said.

"Oh, alright honey." Katie's mom said getting up and hugging her daughter. Her dad did the same and shook my hand. 

"We'll see you soon Ashton." They said and I smiled. 

"Thank you so much for dinner. It was great. I had a wonderful time." I told Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. 

"Anytime. Perhaps you'll be able to come over again sometime." Mr. Hughes said walking us to the door. 

"That would be lovely." I said as we walked out. "Have a good night."

"You too."

I walked to the car and got in. I smiled as I started to drive. 

I didn't expect to see Annie today, but I'm glad that I did. It made my Sunday worth while. 

The drive was once again quiet. It was absolutely silent until we got back to my apartment. 

We walked in and I turned on the tv before walking to my room. As I was taking off my shirt, Katie came in. 

"Hey." I said putting my shirt in the hamper. 

When I turned back to her, she kissed me. I hesitated for a moment before kissing back. 

She pushed me toward the bed and I fell back onto it. 

She moaned as I grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. 

"I love you." She said kissing my neck. 

I pulled her shirt over her head and she kissed my lips once again. 

She ground her hips into mine. When she reached down and palmed me through my pants I moaned. 

She unzipped my pants and pulled them down along with my boxers. 

She licked her lips before moving lower on my body and taking me into her mouth. 

My mouth opened as I put my hand in her hair. 

"Annie." I moaned. 

"What?" 

My eyes widened in realization of what just happened. 

Katie stood up and stepped away from me. 

"Katie-" I began. 

"No! I can't believe you!" She yelled. 

I quickly sat up pulling my boxers and pants back up. 

"Katie I swear I didn't mean to-"

"God Ashton I knew it! I knew you were cheating on me!"

"No! I wasn't. I promise I just- it slipped." 

"Am I not good enough?" She asked with tears in her eyes. 

"You are I just-" I sighed running a hand through my hair. "I can't do this anymore." 

"Y- you're breaking up with me?" 

She started looking for her shirt and found it by my basket of clothes. 

"What the hell?" She said taking something out of it. "A fucking thong?" 

"I can explain." I said. 

"What? Please justify you cheating on me." She put on her shirt. 

"Katie I didn't cheat on you. I would never. Just, after you fought with me a couple of weeks ago, I went to Annie. She got mugged so I took her to the hospital." 

"That bill you were paying earlier. It was hers wasn't it." She said. 

"Yes. But she had a concussion. The doctor said that she needed someone to take care of her. I couldn't let her be alone, so I invited her over here. She left that and I put it in the wash with my stuff."

"That's Kyle's job. You aren't her boyfriend." 

"And neither is he." I said. 

"So you lied about everything?" 

"No. She has a boyfriend, but it's not him. His name is Alex. She said that her and Alex were on a break. Shaylin was out of town, so-" 

"Who's Shaylin?" 

"Her roommate." Before she could reply I spoke again. "Katie the point of all of this isn't to make you jealous. I just want you to know that nothing happened between Annie and I. I swear to you that I would never cheat on you. I love you-"

"Then why are you doing this?" 

"This is going to sound stupid, but I'm just not in love with you. You're a great person and you've been a good friend to me the whole time that we've been dating. I love you as a friend, but nothing more. It's just not working."

"But I thought that we were past everything."

"We're just too different. I can't be with someone that doesn't make me happy." 

"Oh, and Annie is the one that makes you happy?" She said regaining her anger. 

"Right now she does."

"She's a fucking child Ashton!" She yelled. 

"You're acting like a child right now." 

"She's nineteen! You're seven years older than her!" 

"Katie I'm trying to be nice about this." I said through gritted teeth. 

"I don't want your pity." 

"You're a bitch. A self centered bitch. That's why I didn't want you to move in with me a while ago and why I couldn't consider marriage with you. You only want my money and I can't handle that."

"Annie's the one that's having you pay her bills!" 

"I did that because I wanted to. Not because she asked me."

"Ashton I'm going to give you one more chance. Fire Annie and we can move on from this." 

"Katie we're over." 

"Don't do this." She said. 

"It's already done. Tell your friends that you broke up with me, I don't care. Just please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"B- but Ash." 

"Katie just go."

"Ash."

"Go." I said. 

Tears started streaming down her face again. 

She walked out of my room and I soon heard the door close. 

I sat down on my bed and picked up my phone. 

I unlocked it and smiled at my home screen once again. 

I went to my contacts and scrolled until I found the person I was looking for. 

I pressed call, the phone rang and the person picked up. 

"Hello?" 

"Mike, call Cal and Luke and tell them to come over."

***Liliana's POV***

"Bye Kyle." I said hugging him tightly. 

"Please don't stay away for so long next time." He said kissing the top of my head. 

"I'll try my best." I said and walked into my apartment. 

I saw my brothers sitting on the couch with Shaylin. 

"Hey guys." I smiled. 

"How was dinner?" Shaylin asked. 

"Great. Really great." I said walking to my room. 

I laid down on my bed for a moment before Blake, Caleb, and Shaylin appeared in my doorway. 

"What?" I asked. 

"Annie we'd like you to meet our friends." Caleb said. "Jack and Jim." 

"They're from Canada." Shaylin said. 

"Guys I can't get drunk tonight I have work tomorrow." I said. 

"We have peach schnapps."

"And Smirnoff." 

I bit my lip and thought for a moment. 

"Maybe one drink won't hurt."

________________________

Daddy's single...interesting. 

If you guys didn't get the references, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Canadian Mist. Go hard or go home. 

FUN FACT: I want to be a singer/songwriter/actress and I want to start my career on Saturday Night Live. My life goals are to say "Live from New York it's Saturday Night!"

I I love you like a love song baby. 

Stay crocs.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

There's a lot of point of view switching in this one. 

***Shaylin's POV***

"Shaylin." Annie giggled. 

"What?" 

"I gots to tell something to you." She said still giggling. She was drunk, very drunk. She was taking shot after shot. I'm not sure what happened to one drink, but that was way gone. 

"What is it?" 

"I did something naughty." She whispered. 

"What?" I asked. 

"Is there anymore peachy delight?" She asked. 

"Nope we're all out." I lied. 

"Gimme the whiskey!" She yelled. 

"Annie be quiet. We don't want the neighbors to make a complaint." 

"Where's my alcoholic beverage?" She asked. "I need it." 

"Annie we're all out." I said bringing her away from the kitchen. 

"I stayed at Ashton's place when you were gone." She said sitting down on the couch. 

"Your boss Ashton?" 

"Shh!" She said putting her hand on my mouth. "No one knows."

"You stayed at your bosses house?" 

"No!" She giggled. "His apartment."

I rolled my eyes. 

"I'll call him. You'll see." She said getting her phone. 

"Annie stop it." I said as she unlocked it, but she didn't listen to me. 

"Where's Caleb?" She asked looking around. She picked up a pillow from the couch. "Nope not under there." 

"He went with Blake to a club."

"I like clubs!" She said. 

"You've never been to a club."

"But they look fun on Jersey Shore." She said giggling again. 

"You and that damn laughing." I said putting my hand to my temple. 

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna get you some water." I said walking to the kitchen. 

I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and brought it back to the living room. 

"Hello?" I heard a male voice. 

"Ashton!" Annie said happily. 

"Annie hang up the phone." I whispered. 

"No." She whined. "I wanna talk to Mr. Business Man." 

"Hang. Up." 

"Annie?" Ashton said. 

"Ashton I had fun today! Blondie didn't look so happy to see me though." 

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"Yes daddy." She said laughing. 

"Annie hang up!" I said walking toward her. 

She got up and started running around. 

"Ashton save me! Shaylin's getting crazy over here." She said. 

She tripped over the coffee table and fell down. 

I quickly grabbed her phone. 

"Annie?" He asked. 

"No that was me, Shaylin. I've been working on my impression of Annie and I guess it's good enough to fool you. Bye!" I said and hung up the phone. 

"I'm comfy down here. I'll sleep down here." She said and her breathing slowed. 

"Annie you are not going to sleep right there." I said. 

"Annie." I shook her. 

I groaned and tried to pick her up. I couldn't get her whole body up, so I picked up her torso and dragged her legs. 

"I hate you so much right now." I said when I finally got her onto her bed. 

With much difficulty, I got her out of her shorts and under the covers.

"You're gonna be so fucked up tomorrow." I said turning out her light and going to bed. 

***Ashton's POV*** 

"So why are we here?" Luke asked. 

"I'm a free man." I said smiling. 

"Huh?" 

I rolled my eyes. "I broke up with Katie."

"Why?" 

"Not important." 

"Alright, but why are we here?" Luke asked once again. 

"Because I need some fun. Let's go out and party. I wanna get drunk and do some stuff I'll regret tomorrow. I'm only twenty six for two more months. It's not going to be acceptable for me to act like that when I'm old."

"Well are you going to sit and whine all night or are we going out?" Michael said standing up. 

"Luke's DD!" Calum said quickly. 

"What? No!" 

"This isn't for us Lucas. It's for Ashton."

"Fuck you." He frowned. "I wanna drink too."

"Hey dumb asses, if you're done now, we can go get a taxi." Mike said as we walked down the hall. 

I laughed at them as they both looked offended. 

"Why are you in such a good mood? You just broke up with your girlfriend." Cal said once we finally got a taxi. 

"I don't know." I lied. 

The truth was that I finally felt like I could be myself again. That, and right before the boys got to my place, Annie called. 

I was sure that she was drunk, but that didn't bother me. It made me happy that she was thinking about me. 

"Ash!" Luke said interrupting my thoughts. 

"What?" 

"Get out."

"Oh sorry." I mumbled and got out of the cab. 

I looked up and saw that we were at a bar. 

"Who's ready to get white girl wasted?" Luke asked as we walked into the bar. 

@@@@@@@@@

***Lillian's POV***

I groaned as I rolled over in my bed. 

I pressed a hand to my head as I sat up. I opened my eyes but quickly closed them again. 

I put my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. My eyes opened ever so slightly as I started walking to the bathroom. 

When I was about halfway there, I tripped and fell. 

"Ow!" I heard two voices speak. 

I got up quickly and looked at the people on my floor. There was Caleb and some girl and it didn't look like either of them had clothes on. 

"You did not." I said as my jaw dropped. 

"Annie just calm down." Caleb said calmly. 

"Ew! Get out, get out, get out!" I said to the girl who was laying on my floor half naked. 

"I'm gonna be sick." I said gagging. I quickly ran to the bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet. 

Once the contents of my stomach were emptied, I flushed the toilet and brushed my teeth. 

I cautiously walked out of the bathroom and into my room again. 

"She's gone." 

"Caleb you're disgusting." I said grimacing. 

"Annie I'm sorry-"

"No you aren't!" I said loudly before holding my head again. 

"You're right I'm not." He said with a smile. 

"God. I was sleeping! What if I woke up?"

"But you didn't."

"But what if I did?"

"You didn't."

"You're such a douche." I said walking out of my room and to the kitchen. 

I got a bottle of water from the fridge and drank half of it. 

"Good afternoon princess." Shaylin said walking into the kitchen. 

"Afternoon?" I asked. 

"One o'clock." She said pointing to the clock. 

"Oh god." I said and went back to my room. I looked everywhere for my phone, but I couldn't find it. 

"Shaylin where's my phone?" I asked. 

"Coffee table."

I quickly walked to the living room and got my phone. It was on six percent. I went back to my room and plugged it in before calling Mr. Irwin. 

It rang a few times before he answered. 

"Hello?" He said in his morning voice. 

"Sir were you sleeping?" I asked. 

"Annie?" 

"Yes. Sir I just wanted to say that I couldn't-"

"Ash come back to bed." I heard a voice from his side of the line. 

I gasped quietly. "I uh, can't come to work. Bye."

I put my phone down and walked back into the living room. 

"What's wrong?" Blake asked. 

"It's like everyone I know got laid last night." I sighed sitting next to him on the couch. 

"Shaylin didn't." He said. 

"Oh god you too." I groaned putting my face in my hands.

"Wait who else did?"

"Caleb."

"Nah. Really? Tell me something I don't know Captain Obvious." He said sarcastically. 

"Well Sergeant Sarcasm, I called my boss to tell him that I wasn't going to work and I heard some girl on the other line." 

"Maybe it was his girlfriend?" He suggested. 

"I don't know. I've only talked to her like twice, but I don't remember her voice being high pitched and nasally." 

"Hey, sometimes a guy just needs a good fuck." He said getting up and walking in the direction of the bathroom. 

I got up and went to the kitchen to find some ibuprofen to take. I checked every cabinet before giving up and going to Shaylin's room. 

She was laying in her bed on her phone. I crawled into her bed and laid beside her under the covers. 

"Hungover?" She asked looking at me. 

"Mhm." I rolled over and cuddled with her. "There's no ibuprofen."

"I told you to drink more water last night." She told me. 

"I don't remember anything from last night." I frowned pulling her closer to me. 

"You told me that you stayed with Ashton while I was gone. By the way, he left me a seventy dollar tip that one day you guys came in. Thank him for me."

"I don't know whether to be surprised by the tip or the fact that I told you." I mumbled into her shoulder. 

"Let's start with the fact that you told me. Why did you stay with him?" 

"I got in a fight with Alex. He left, and you weren't here, so I was walking to the store down the street to get ice cream and I got mugged." 

"What? Annie why would you not tell me?" She exclaimed. "Wait. But why were you with Ashton?"

"He took me to the hospital. I had a concussion. I think it's all the way gone now, but yeah. I was with him."

"Did you guys...frickle frackle?" She asked quietly. 

I laughed at her choice of words. "No. Nothing happened. He has a girlfriend."

"What did she say about you staying with him?"

"She doesn't know I don't think, but she was at Kyle's yesterday with Ashton for dinner. I guess that her parents are the Hughes' neighbors. Anyways, she definitely hates me a lot."

"My god. I'm never leaving you alone for a week again." She said locking her phone and hugging me. "Get some sleep."

I pulled the covers up around us and soon fell back asleep. 

***Ashton's POV***

"Last night was fun." The fake blonde said as she rolled over in my bed and rested her head on my chest. 

I didn't respond, but I got out of my bed and put my boxers on. 

"You should uh, you should go." I said. 

"What? Why?"

"I've got to go to work." I lied. 

"Oh uh, okay." She said. She got out of my bed and put her dress on from last night. 

"I'll call you." I said as I walked her to the door. 

"Okay." She said turning around. She puckered her lips and closed her eyes. 

I rolled my eyes before kissing her cheek and letting her out. 

I groaned and pressed my hand to my temple. 

I didn't remember much from the night before. We got to the bar, went inside, and immediately started drinking. After about my fifth shot, a blonde came and started flirting with me. After that, nothing. I remembered nothing. 

I turned around to see my three best friends laying in my living room.   
Luke and Michael were cuddling on the couch, and Calum was on the floor. 

I sighed before going to my room and going back to bed. And even though it wasn't as good as the real thing, I took my pillow from the other side of the bed and cuddled with it. It helped me sleep even though it wasn't really Annie sleeping beside me and keeping me warm. 

_______________________

Bleep blop bloop. Love you. 

Stay crocs.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Happy seven month anniversary." Alex said kissing me. 

"I love you." I said smiling. 

"I love you too."

We were sitting on the couch in his apartment. We just finished watching a movie and his roommate, David, had just walked in. 

"Can I ask you something?" He asked. 

"Always." 

"Why were you with Kyle on Sunday?" 

My eyes widened. 

"What?" 

"You were with Kyle on Sunday at his parents house." His voice was calm. 

"I uh, his parents uh, dinner. They wanted to see me." I fumbled with my words. 

"Why?" 

"I uh, um, I haven't seen them. For a while."

"What do you mean for a while?" 

"I just haven't seen them."

"Annie, just tell me." He said finally. His voice was still calm and he didn't seem angry. 

"I uh, Kyle and I, we um, used to date." I said quietly. 

I felt him stiffen beside me. 

"I'm sorry." I said when he didn't reply. 

"Why?" He asked. 

"I didn't tell you and I should've. I shouldn't have gone over there. I shouldn't have even talked to-"

"Annie." He said with a smile. 

"What?" I asked cautiously. 

"Why are you freaking out?"

"I thought you'd be, well uh, mad at me I guess." 

"I not mad. I just wish you would've told me." He said surprising me. 

"You aren't mad?"

"Maybe a little, but I told you, the classes I'm taking really help me cope with my anger."

"I'm so proud of you." I said kissing him. 

"I'm kinda proud of myself. Is that bad?" He asked. 

"Of course not. This is something to be proud of."

"I never wanted to hurt you." He whispered as he put his hand on my cheek. 

"It's in the past. We can't do anything about it now." I whispered back. 

"What are we watching?" David said sitting down on the other side of me. 

"Pitch Perfect." Alex answered as he pulled me closer to him. 

"So it's your anniversary?" He asked. 

"Seven months." Alex said kissing my forehead. 

"Seven months? Haven't you gotten tired of him yet Annie?" 

"Not in the slightest." I answered. My eyes widened and I looked at Alex. 

'I'm sorry.' I mouthed. 

He leaned down to my ear and whispered "You don't need my permission."

I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him. 

"I love you so much." We said at the same time. I laughed before kissing him again. 

"Hey, can you guys not fuck right next to me?" David said. 

I pulled away from Alex and a blush rose on my cheeks. 

"Alex it's getting late. I should go. I have to work tomorrow." I said standing up. 

"You're not going to stay?" He frowned as he stood next to me. 

"Not tonight." I whispered. "David's here."

"It's not like he doesn't know."

"I have a meeting tomorrow." 

"Annie." He pleaded. 

I kissed his cheek and walked to the door. "Bye Alex." I said and left. 

There was no doubt in my mind that I felt kind of bad for ditching Alex on our anniversary, but I just wasn't in the mood. 

After the short drive back to my apartment, I realized how lonely I would be. Shaylin was working the night shift and Blake and Caleb left. 

I sighed as I threw my keys on the kitchen counter. 

"All by myself. Don't wanna be all by myself." I sang as I walked to my room. 

"Wow I'm lame." I said. 

"Stop talking to yourself." I continued talking. 

"God what's wrong with me?"

"Alright I'm done for real."

"Okay now."

"Now."

I laughed before taking off my jeans and walking back to the living room. I plugged my phone into my record player. It was great because it played vinyls, CDs, and cassettes too. 

I put the Beatles on shuffle and started cleaning the living room. I had forgotten how messy it got when you had brothers. 

I swept the floors, vacuumed under couch cushions, and picked up all the trash. 

"And please say to me, you'll let me hold your hand. Now let me hold your hand. I want to hold your hand." I sang as I walked to the kitchen. 

"And when I touch you I feel happy inside. It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide." I continued as I loaded the dishwasher. 

I liked that song. It was cute how in the sixties, songs were so innocent. When it said the touch you part, it meant touch in the most harmless way. It saddened me that from the nineties on, songs were mostly about sex. 

I started the dishwasher and looked at the rest of the small kitchen. 

Just as I was about to clean off the counters, I thought I heard a knock on the door. I walked back to the living room and turned off the music. It was almost eleven. 

"Shaylin forgot her key again." I muttered to myself. 

I walked to the door and opened it. 

"You really need to stop- Mr. Irwin!" I said looking up. I quickly stepped behind the door so my bare legs were covered. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"I don't know. What are you doing here?" He said and giggled. 

"Sir, are you drunk?" 

"What me? No." He laughed. "I'm just a little tipsy. No I just have a buzz. A tipsy buzz. A bipsy."

"How'd you get here?"

"I used my keys." He said holding them up. 

"You drove?" I asked shocked. 

"It's okay. I made it and everybody's okay. Okay?" He giggled again. 

"Come in." I said opening the door further. 

He walked passed me and went to the living room. I closed the door and walked to my room. I put on some shorts that were lying on my floor and went to talk to him. 

"So why are you here?" I asked again when I sat by him. 

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I just, I walked out of the bar and ended up here."

"Why were you drinking? We have work tomorrow." 

"I had some stuff to think about."

"Are you okay?" I asked moving closer. 

"I don't know. I think so."

"What happened?"

"I broke up with Katie." He said looking at me. 

"What?" 

"I broke up with her. She was just- I don't know. A bitch. She was a bitch."

"What happened? You guys were fine last Sunday."

"No we weren't. She was being a bitch all day and then we got back to my apartment and had a fight. And I broke up with her." 

"Oh." I whispered.

"Can I ask you something?" He said. 

"What?" 

"Why do people call you Annie?" 

"Well uh, it's shorter than saying Liliana every time."

"But I like Liliana. It's a pretty name for a pretty face." He said and I blushed. 

"I guess that my dad used to call me Lily or Liliana. My whole family did when I was a baby." I said. "After he died, my mom made everyone call me Ana and that got to Annie. I think it reminded her of my dad too much to call me Liliana."

"Your dad died?"

"Yeah. When I was a baby he got into a car wreck. I never got to know him." I said quietly as tears welled in my eyes. 

"I'm sorry." He mumbled as he pulled me into a hug. "I- I didn't really know my dad either." 

"Really?"

"No. He left us." He said frowning. "I try not to think about it much."

I wiped my eyes. "I can't complain though. Charlie is the best dad a girl could ask for I think. Even though I'm not really his, he treats me like one of his own."

He smiled at me. "Can I call you Liliana?" 

I opened my my mouth to say something, but closed it. It was a simple question, but I just couldn't answer. 

"I uh, sure." I finally said. 

He smiled at me again and I couldn't help but smile back. 

"Okay, but one thing." 

"What?"

"Stop calling me Mr. Irwin or sir or whatever the hell else you might come up with." 

"Sir I-"

"No. I call you by your first name, you call me by mine." He said stubbornly. 

"What about at work?" 

"I'm the boss. Anyone who doesn't like you calling me Ashton can take it up with me."

"I thought that you were drunk." I said furrowing my eyebrows. 

"I told you I just had a buzz. I guess it wore off."

"Or you were faking it the whole time so I'd let you in." 

"Maybe a little bit of both." He smirked. 

"You're ridiculous." I giggled as I playfully pushed his shoulder. 

I wasn't sure how, but he managed to grab my hand before it left his touch. He held it in place on his shoulder before moving it to his cheek. He closed his eyes before exhaling peacefully. 

His eyes shot open seconds later like he realized what was going on. 

"I'm sorry." He said letting my hand go.

"N- no. It's fine." I stuttered. 

"I uh, we have work tomorrow. I'll go." He said as he stood up. 

"No!" 

"What?"

"You're drunk. Or maybe not drunk. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Just stay here." I said as I stood next to him. 

"I can't stay here I-"

"Please Ashton." I said with a pout. "Just tonight."

He bit his lip before replying. "Okay." 

I felt my heart flutter at his words. 

"Okay." I smiled as I stepped closer to him. 

"Okay." He said smiling. 

"Okay." I said quietly. 

"Let's not reenact the Fault in Our Stars." He said giggling. 

"You're the only guy I know that giggles on a regular basis." I told him. 

"I can't help my laugh." He said still giggling. 

"Come on." I said pulling his arm toward my room. 

"It's kinda messy in here." I said as I pushed some clothes into the closet. 

"Wow." He said looking around. 

"What?"

"It's just like I imagined it would be. Not that I imagine your room, I just- it's um- I think it's- it looks like you. Not like you, but it's pretty. Not that I'm calling you pretty. You are I just mean-" 

"Ashton." I laughed. "Calm down. I know what you meant." 

"Right." He mumbled. 

"You can sit down. Uh, there's a bathroom right there and down the hall first door on the left. Do you need anything?"

He shook his head. 

"I like your Cobain shirt." I said. 

"Really?" 

I nodded. 

He quickly pulled the shirt over his head and threw it to me. 

"You wear it." He said. 

"Don't look." I said turning around. 

I took my own shirt off and put his on. I pulled the collar up to my face and inhaled. 

"You smell good." I said turning around. "You can look again."

"Never stopped." He smirked. 

"Ashton!" 

"Liliana!" He mocked me.

I turned off the light. 

"Go to bed." I said walking around to the left side of my bed and laying down. 

I felt the bed dip down. 

"You can take your pants off." I said awkwardly. 

I felt him move around before I heard a pair of jeans hit the ground. I slipped off my shorts and threw them aside. 

"Goodnight Ashton." 

"Goodnight Liliana." He said. 

I couldn't sleep. I tried, but I just couldn't. I tried counting backward from one hundred, sheep, and how many breaths I took. Nothing worked. I moved around trying to find a comfortable spot, but my bed just wasn't doing any good. 

"Are you still awake?" I whispered. 

"Mhm." 

"Will you sing to me?" I asked. 

"What song?"

"I don't care."

He was quiet for a moment before he began. 

"Well I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the lord. But you don't really care for music do you?"

His voice was such a soothing sound. I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest. I felt his arm wrap around me as he continued his song. 

"Well it goes like this, the fourth the fifth, the minor falls and the major lifts. The baffled king composing hallelujah." 

I closed my eyes and listened to him sing one of my favorite songs, and it wasn't long before I fell asleep. 

@@@@@@@@

***Shaylin's POV***

"Annie get up. You have to work." I yelled when I was walking to the kitchen from my bedroom. 

I put some waffles in the toaster and walked back to Annie's room. I opened the door and yelled at her again. 

"Annie I said-" 

"Oh my god." I whispered. 

_____________

FUN FACT: I'm currently at the top of my class. I'm actually pretty smart I guess. Yeah. That's all. 

Stay crocs.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

***Liliana's POV***

My dream of being at the beach with Ashton started to slowly fade away from my eyes. I did all that I could to try and stay asleep, but it wasn't happening. 

It was gone and I was left staring at the back of my eyelids. I let out something between a groan and a yawn before I opened my eyes slightly. There wasn't much light coming through my window, but it was enough to hurt my eyes. 

I was vaguely aware of the heat radiating onto my left side. I looked down and remembered that Ashton was with me. He was cuddled onto me and his face was in the crook of my neck. 

I reached my hand up and ran it through his hair. 

"Ashton, wake up."

He groaned but didn't move. 

"Ashton." 

"Liliana." He said and I smiled. "Can't we sleep for just a little bit more?"

"No we've got to work and you have two meetings today."

"Okay baby." He whispered and pressed his lips to my neck. 

I quietly gasped and my breath became shallow. 

He got up and walked to the bathroom. 

I sat up and touched the spot on my neck where his lips had previously been. 

I decided not to think to much into it. He was probably just tired and didn't realize what he did. I got out of my bed and walked to the living room. 

"Hey." I said to Shaylin. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question." She shot back. 

"What's your problem?" 

"Who's shirt is that?"

"A friend's. What's wrong with you?"

"So what you're saying is that I didn't walk into your room and see your boss with you in bed this morning?"

"So that's what this is about?" I asked. 

"Yeah. You know I don't like cheaters."

"It's not even like that." I defended myself. 

"Then what is it like? Because right now you're both being cheaters."

"He's single and nothing happened. He was drunk last night and I didn't want him to drive home." 

"But why was he here?"

"I don't know. He didn't say."

"Why was he naked?"

"He was in boxers. And before you can ask, I have his shirt on because I liked it so he's letting me wear it."

"Nothing happened?" 

"Nothing." I promised. 

"Okay."

"I'm gonna go get ready." I said and walked back to my room. 

"As much as I love seeing you in my clothes, I'm gonna need my shirt back." Ashton said. 

I quickly took off the shirt and tossed it to him. 

"I'll see you at work." I said walking to the closet. 

"I uh, yeah. Work. I'll see you. There."

"Alright." I said turning to the closet. 

I started looking for something to wear when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. 

"Thank you for last night."

"Y- you're welcome." I stuttered again. 

He stood there with me in his embrace for a little longer before he let go. 

"I'll see you at work Liliana."

Moments later, I heard the front door open and close. 

I grabbed the first dress that I saw out of my closet before going to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work. 

***Ashton's POV***

"Can I get a grande chai tea frappé?" I asked the barista of the Starbucks across the street from our office. 

"Whip cream and spice on top?"

"Yes please."

"Will that be all for you sir?"

"Yeah."

"That'll be $4.76." She said and I handed her a five dollar bill. She handed me my change and I put it in the tip jar. 

"Can I get a name?"

"Liliana." I said and spelled it out. She gave me a weird look. "It's for my girl- my friend. It's for my friend."

"I'll get this started." She said and walked away. 

I went over by the pick up counter and waited. 

It was nice to sleep in a little bit this morning. I hadn't gotten much sleep the nights before. Since the break up with Katie, I had been pouring myself into my work. 

The breakup wasn't hard for the reasons that I would've thought that it would be. It wasn't because I unbearably missed Katie. It was because I was having trouble controlling myself. 

Whenever I saw Liliana I just wanted to kiss her and pick her up and spin her around, among other things. 

I slipped up earlier. She didn't ask about me kissing her neck, and I was grateful for that. I don't know what I would've said. 

When I was about to leave and she was looking for clothes in her closet, I couldn't help but hug her. Being that close to her made me ecstatic. Her back flush against my front was wonderful. 

I wanted that every day, but I couldn't have that because of Alex. He was the one thing in between me and my happiness. 

I wasn't one to ruin relationships, but this one had to end. It was going to be difficult to make Liliana realize that she should be with me without just saying it. 

Though I wasn't one hundred percent sure that she liked me, I was confident that there was something there. 

"Liliana." I heard someone say. 

I looked around before remembering that I ordered a drink for her. I stepped up to the counter and grabbed the drink. 

There was Liliana's name printed on the side with pretty hand writing and a heart next to it. 

"Thanks. Have a nice day." I said and left. I carefully crossed the street and walked into my building. 

"Good morning Veronica." I said as I walked through the lobby. 

"It's the afternoon sir." She replied.

"But a good one all the same."

She laughed at my awful joke and continued working. 

I couldn't help but smile when I got into the elevator. 

It seemed like forever until the doors opened to the thirteenth floor. 

It took everything that I had to not run straight to Liliana's office. I took my time walking and I said hello to everyone that I passed. 

When I finally got to her office, the door was open and she was doing something on her computer. She looked cute when she was trying to focus. 

"Good afternoon." I said and she jumped slightly. 

"Sir you scared me." She said. 

"Didn't we talk about this?" 

"What? Oh. Sorry. Ashton, you scared me."

"Better." I smiled. "I got this."

I sat the cup on her desk along with a straw. 

"What for?" 

"For you." I laughed. "It's your favorite."

"But why?"

"Because sometimes I feel like doing nice things for people that I care for."

"You care for me?"

"Yeah. I mean you're always super nice and you're funny. I think you deserved to be cared for by everyone." I said quickly. 

"Oh."

I stood there awkwardly as she put the straw in her drink and took a sip. 

"Thanks for this." She said. 

"No problem." 

"You have a meeting in ten minutes." 

"I do?" 

She nodded. 

"With who?"

"With the guy from that one car dealership." 

"Oh yeah. That really narrows it down." I teased her. 

"Don't act like you're hot stuff just because you own a few stores." She said. 

"A few thousand...in America."

"Don't get too full of yourself." She giggled. 

"It's not bad to be proud of yourself!" I defended.

She laughed at me. "Well, Mr. Proud, you have a meeting in five minutes. You better get going." 

"Aye, aye, captain." I said and turned to walk out. 

"Wait!" I heard her. 

"What?" I turned around. 

She stood and walked around her desk over to me. 

"Your tie looks weird." She said. 

I looked down as she unbuttoned my jacket. She untied my tie and began tying it again. 

"Four brothers and probably a hundred school events later, I'm an expert at tie tying." She giggled. 

"You have four brothers?" 

"Yep. Two older, two younger."

"You're the middle child?" I asked her. 

"Yeah, it kind of sucked when I was younger, but I'm the favorite now."

"I'm the oldest." 

"Yeah I can tell. You're getting up there." She joked. 

"As long as my hair looks great, I'm still young." I laughed. 

She finished the tie and buttoned my jacket. 

"Go get 'em tiger." She said and I smiled at her. 

"No seriously, you gotta go. The meeting is supposed to start like now. Room two." She said pushing me out of the door. 

"Okay, okay. I'm going." I laughed and started walking. 

***Liliana's POV***

I watched Ashton walk down the hallway to the conference room. 

I sat down and started to filter his emails. It took twenty minutes before I was about halfway done. Nothing stuck out to me until I saw one that said Katie Novak. 

I was going to send it straight through to him, but curiosity got the best of me. I clicked on it and waited for it to load. 

"This is so wrong." I whispered before reading it. 

'Ashton I'm sorry. You won't answer my texts or calls. I don't know what else to do.' 

I took the last sip of my drink before continuing. 

'I know that our relationship wasn't the best, but I love you. We can get through this. I think that we were both a little frustrated and now that we've had time to calm down we should talk. 

Meet me at the bakery where we had our first date, today at three. I really hope you show up. I love you.'

I closed the email and marked it as unread along with about ten before it. 

My desk phone started ringing. 

"Ashton Irwin's office."

"Hello, this is John Davis. I'm calling about a three o'clock appointment with Ashton Irwin. My wife is sick and I have to take her to the doctor. Is there any way that I can reschedule?"

"Yes of course. When were you looking to reschedule?"

"The soonest available works for me. My schedules pretty open."

I got on my computer and went to his calendar. 

"Okay it looks like next Wednesday we have a nine o'clock and a noon available."

"The noon is fine."

"Great. We'll see you then, and I hope that your wife feels better." I said. 

"Thank you."

I hung up the phone and changed the calendar before leaning back in my chair. 

A plan was surfacing in my mind. An awful plan. 

I walked down the hall and knocked on the door. 

"Come in." I heard faintly. 

I opened the door. 

"Hey." Ashton smiled.

"Your three o'clock was cancelled. His wife was sick so I rescheduled for next Wednesday."

"Alright. Is that all?" 

"I need your help with something."

"What's up?" 

"Well lately I've been craving something sweet. Like cupcakes or something. And Shaylin's birthday is coming up so I want to find a good place to make her cake. Do you know a place?"

He thought for a moment before speaking up. 

"There's a bakery about fifteen minutes from here. I can take you if you'd like."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be too much?" I asked. 

"Not at all. We can go after work or-"

"Could we go now?" I asked. 

"Uh. Sure yeah." He said and stood. 

I was taking a shot in the dark. Either we go to the bakery and get cupcakes, or we go to the bakery and see Katie. I hoped for the latter. 

"Megan, take my calls. If it's anything too important, send them through to me. We'll be back in an hour." Ashton said as we walked past her office. 

I had to admit that I was nervous. I wasn't sure why I wanted to see Katie so bad. Maybe to show her that I had won even though we weren't playing a game. 

Maybe she was right about me being a bitch, but I wasn't trying to get with Ashton. It wasn't my fault that he came to me with his problems. 

"Liliana." I heard Ashton. 

"What?" 

"Are you gonna get in the car or do I have to open the door for you?" He joked. 

"Oh. Sorry." I said. "I must've spaced out."

I opened the car door and got in. 

I buckled my seatbelt and sat back. We rode in a comfortable silence, the radio playing in the background. 

"So when's Shaylin's birthday?" He asked. 

"June twenty second."

"And you're planning that far ahead?"

"For what?" 

"Her birthday cake." He said suspiciously. 

"Oh. Yeah, but I told you. I've been wanting something sweet."

"Okay, well we're almost there."

"So what do you suggest I get?" I asked him. 

"I haven't been there in so long." He said. "I always used to like the donuts. The cupcakes are good too. And the cookies."

"Is there anything that you didn't like?" I laughed. 

"Uh, the paper that they wrapped the stuff in wasn't the best."

"What?"

He laughed lightly. "I got excited and ate fast and got a mouthful of wax paper once."

"I'll be sure to not eat the paper." I said giggling. 

"We're here." He said. 

I took a deep breath before looking at the clock. Three fifteen. If she was desperate, she'd still be there. 

"Now or never." I mumbled to myself before getting out of the car and following Ashton to the bakery. 

__________

FUN FACT: I love grunge, alternative, and rock music, but I also love 1D and 5sos. I feel like most people don't understand that fangirls don't just listen to boybands and pop music 24/7, and that annoys the fuck out of me. 

Łøvē ÿøū

Stay crocs.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

***Liliana's POV***

For a small bakery, it was fairly packed. It was cute. It had a cliche Parisian theme. The walls were painted a dark red color, and the chairs and tables were vintage. 

"It smells good." I commented. 

"Mhm." He said walking to the line. 

"What should I get?" I asked looking around. No sign of Katie. 

"Uh, well I think they have like a sampler platter so I figured we could get that." 

I didn't say anything, but I looked around some more. She was definitely not there. 

"I never got a chance to ask, how's your head been?" He spoke. 

"I have headaches sometimes, but it's not unbearable."

"What about right now?"

"What?"

"Your head. Does it hurt?"

"Not really."

"But it hurts?"

"I'm fine Ashton." I groaned. 

"Just making sure." He said. 

Terrible. I was such a terrible person. He was being nothing but nice to me and all I cared about was beating Katie in a nonexistent game. 

"Ashton I lied. My head hurts. Can we go?"

"Are you sure? We're next." 

I sighed. "Okay."

Soon it was our turn. 

"Can we get a sampler?" Ashton asked. 

I pulled out my wallet ready to pay before Ashton lightly pushed it away. 

"I got it."

"You know I don't like it when you pay for me." I frowned. 

"You can pay next time." He offered.

"You're lying."

"What? No." His voice was slightly higher. "I promise. Next time we go somewhere you can pay."

"Whatever." 

He paid and the lady gave us a number. 

"Here." He said pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Go wait in the car."

"No."

"Please Liliana." He begged, pouting slightly. 

"But I-" he began to frown and I couldn't take it anymore. "Okay."

"Alright, I'll be out in a few minutes." 

I reluctantly took the keys from his hand and began walking out. 

I unlocked his car and got in the passenger side and put down the window a little bit. As soon as I turned on the radio, I turned it to an alternative station. 

I hummed along to Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. It was always one of my favorites. 

It was then that I saw the face that I had been waiting for. Katie pulled into the parking space by the passenger side of Ashton's car. 

I prayed that Ashton would stay inside for just a little longer. Just until Katie got inside. However, my luck wasn't very good. Ashton was walking out of the bakery door with two containers in his hands. 

He looked up and smiled at me. I only pointed out of my window which made his smile falter. 

Katie got out of her car. 

"Ashton, you're here." I heard her say. 

His eyes widened with shock. 

"Katie?"

"Oh god no." I whispered. 

"I'm sorry I'm late. I got held up in traffic."

"What are you talking about?" He asked. 

"The email."

"What email?"

"The one I sent you asking you to meet me here."

"You what?" He asked. 

"Wait. If you aren't here for me then why are you here?" She asked confused. 

"I uh. I wanted some cake?" He lied badly. 

"Two cakes?"

"I'm a hungry guy."

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she opened them, she looked down at me. 

"Of fucking course she's here." She yelled. "Oh my god! Is that why you're here? She wanted something so you get it for her? How am I the fucking gold digger here?"

"The difference between you and her is that I want to buy these things for her. She doesn't expect them from me!" He yelled back. 

"Neither did I!"

"So all those times we went shopping and I didn't pull out my wallet right away so you shoved me and said 'Ashton.' what was that?"

"That's different." She said quietly. 

"Why was it different? Because it was you? Because we were together? Because it benefitted you?"

"No I just- I don't know. It just was."

"No Katie. It wasn't." He said and opened the car door. He handed me the boxes before getting in and closing the door. 

"Ashton please just listen to me." She begged. 

"Are you ready?" He asked me. 

"M- maybe you should t- talk to her." I said quietly. 

"Why?"

"She could have something important to say."

"Liliana, when I was with her I wasn't happy. I don't like being with people that use me." He said sincerely. 

"Just give her a chance."

"Katie you have sixty seconds anything that you want to say to me you can say it in front of her." He said and gestured to me. 

I rolled down my window and she leaned her head in. 

"Ashton I'm not even the one that messed up here." She started. 

"You aren't off to a good start." He mumbled. 

"But I don't care about that anymore. I just want to be with you. I hate not getting to call you mine. I don't care about the money. You could not have a car and live in your moms basement and I wouldn't care. I love you."

"I'm not sorry for what I did." He said. 

"What do you mean you aren't sorry?" She frowned. 

"I mean that I feel absolutely no remorse for doing it, and if we got back together then it would probably happen again."

I just wanted to know what happened between them. 

"Are you serious?" She raised her voice slightly. 

"I'm not happy when I'm with you Katie. I have no desire to be in a relationship with you anymore. I don't know how to say it so you'll understand that I don't have feelings for you. Now if you don't mind, we have to get back to work."

"Fucking home wrecker." Katie said loudly. 

I felt her hand hit my face. There was no doubt in my mind that she scratched my cheek. She was going crazy. I put my hands up trying to protect myself. 

Her hands were hitting me until suddenly, they weren't. 

I looked up to see what stopped. Ashton had run to the other side of the car and pulled Katie off of me. 

"You're fucking insane! Stay the hell away from me!" He yelled as he put her in her own car. 

He ran back over to the drivers side of his car and got in. 

"I wanna get you out of here. I'll look at you when we get back to the office." He said. 

He pulled out of the parking space and started driving quickly. 

"Are you okay?" He asked me. 

"Yeah. I've been in worse fights." I said. 

"Are you sure? It looked like she got you pretty bad."

"I'm fine. Promise." 

I turned up the radio so he couldn't interrogate me anymore. 

My cheek was stinging slightly where I was pretty sure that she cut me, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. 

She called me a home wrecker, but I wasn't sure why. It wasn't my fault that they broke up. 

I still wanted to know what Ashton did that was so bad. And he said that it would happen again if they got back together. The thought of him cheating crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. 

He didn't seem like the type to be unfaithful, but there was no way to be sure. I wanted to ask, but that would be extremely rude. 

I sighed as I pressed a hand to my temple. If I didn't have a headache before, then one had definitely surfaced. 

"Alright, let me get a look at you." He said. 

"Huh?"

"We're here. Let me see."

I turned my head to look at him and his jaw dropped. 

"What?" I asked cautiously. 

He leaned over and put down the visor. He lifted up the mirror cover and I looked at myself. 

I was right. There was a large scratch going across my cheek. There wasn't anything else that was very significant. Just some light bruising. 

"I'm so sorry that this happened." He said. 

"No. It's my fault. If I hadn't come to ask you to take me to a bakery then this wouldn't have happened at all."

"Please don't blame yourself."

"I saw the email from Katie." I said. 

"What?"

"I saw the email but I didn't want to read it because I thought that it would be an invasion of privacy." I told him. I left out the part where I went against my better judgement and read it anyways. 

"Oh." He said quietly. 

"I should have told you. I'm so sorry." 

"It's fine. Honestly."

"No it's not, but knowing the nice guy you are you wont let me take the blame. Sometimes you have to let others take the fall Ashton." 

I opened my door. 

"I don't feel good. I think I'll go home for the day." I said and got out. 

I shut the door behind me and began walking to the building. 

I felt so bad for lying to him. That's why I didn't feel good. I was guilty. It wasn't often that I felt guilty because I always tried to do the right thing. 

I tried to keep my head down on the walk to my office so no one would see my face. 

I was relieved when I finally got to my destination. 

"Hey." I heard someone say. 

I looked up quickly. 

"Alex?"

__________________

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!!

FUN FACT: I saw the dress as black and blue, but for the record, I couldn't care less about that shit. Why did a picture of a dress go viral? It's fucking ridiculous. AND WHAT THE FUCK LLAMAS??!?!?

Goodnight/morning/afternoon love ya love ya love ya. 

Stay crocs.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

***Liliana's POV***

"Alex what are you doing here?" I asked shocked. 

"What happened to you?" He asked getting up and walking over to me. 

"It's nothing." 

"Annie you have a scratch on your cheek. It doesn't look like nothing." He frowned. 

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." 

"Are you sure that you're okay? I can take you home if you want." 

"I actually was going to go home, but my car is here."

"I can get Matt to come and get it or something." He offered. 

"I'll just drive home and you can come over." I said. 

"Okay that works too I guess. Do you want me to-"

"Liliana I'm sorry about what happened, but I can't take these." Ashton said. I turned around and he was standing in the doorway. 

He was holding the two boxes in his hands, and his eyes were glued on Alex. 

"You paid for it." I said. 

"You wanted it."

He moved closer and handed them to me. 

"This is my boyfriend." I said while I sat the boxes on my desk. 

"I'm Ashton." He said putting his hand out. 

"Alex." My boyfriend replied shaking his hand. 

"I've heard a lot about you Alex." Ashton said. 

"All good things I hope." Alex chuckled. 

Ashton didn't reply, but offered him a smile. He put his hand on my shoulder. 

"Feel better Liliana. I'll hopefully see you tomorrow." He said and left my office. 

"I'll see you at your apartment." Alex said through gritted teeth. I watched as he walked out of my office too. 

I groaned and sat down in my chair. It was going to be hell when I got home. Alex had finally met Ashton. 

Alex seemed pretty calm, but I wasn't certain how he would act when we were alone. 

I picked up my purse and grabbed the rest of my things before picking up the two boxes. I walked out of my office and locked the door. 

The rest of what happened until I got to my apartment was a blur. My mind was everywhere. 

I couldn't figure out why Katie had freaked out so much. It's not like I told Ashton to break up with her. They grew apart, stuff like that happens all of the time. 

My phone started vibrating in the cup holder. 

"Hello?" I answered trying not to take my eyes off of the road. 

"Hey sweetie. What are you doing?" I heard my mothers voice. 

"Uh driving." I said putting the phone on speaker. 

"Oh. I'll call you back then."

"No!" I said kind of loud.

"What's wrong?"

"I really need to talk to you and I don't have much time." I lowered my voice. 

"Why don't you have much time? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What's going on?" She asked in a panicked tone. 

I laughed lightly. "Nothing mom. I'm fine. I just miss you, and I need someone to talk to about my problems."

"What's been going on?" She asked. 

"You remember me telling you about Alex, right?" I asked. 

"Mhm."

"Well a while ago, we got in a big fight, and we took a break."

"What was the fight over?"

"He uh, well." I thought for a moment. "He thought that I was cheating on him I guess."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I was called into a meeting with my boss, but it wasn't a real meeting. He called it a band meeting. He just wanted me to meet his friends." I smiled fondly at the memory. "Then his girlfriend showed up and we left. Oh! He gave me a promotion that day too." 

"So?"

"Oh right! Okay so I hugged him when I left and-"

"You hugged your boss?" My mom asked. 

"Yeah. Not a big deal. Let me finish." I said. "When I got back, Alex was in my apartment and he hugged me because I got the promotion. He smelled Ashton's cologne on me and freaked out."

"Ashton?" 

"My boss."

"Okay. Continue."

"I told him that he was freaking out over nothing and I said that maybe we should take a break until he can learn to control himself and trust me. After that, he left. I was really upset, so I walked to the store to get ice cream." 

"You really need to stop eating your feelings honey." My mom spoke. 

"Well sometimes you need to. And anyways, on the way to the store, I fell and hit my head really hard."

"Are you okay?" 

"Mom." I groaned. I pulled into my parking lot and parked in a space. 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Continue please." She apologized quickly. 

"Alright, so Ashton took me to the hospital because he came over to talk to me and-"

"Ashton your boss?"

"Yes. Okay so it turns out that I had a concussion. Shaylin was back home for her moms wedding, and she wasn't home to take care of me."

"How is Shaylin doing? I haven't seen her in a while." My mom said. 

"Great. She's great. So anyways, I kind of stayed at Ashton's place for a week." I stopped talking and waited for her to say something. 

"Annie." My mom said quietly. 

"I know, but nothing happened. I might as well have spent a week with Blake and Caleb. Which, by the way, why didn't you come with them?" 

"I couldn't get off of work." She said sadly. 

"Now, what about Alex? Are you guys still together?" 

"We got back together a couple weeks ago. Our seven month anniversary was last night." 

"Aww. How'd you guys celebrate?" 

"Just watched a movie. Nothing special. Anyways, today Ashton took me to a bakery during lunch."

"Like a date?" 

"No mom. I wanted something sweet, so he took me there. But we saw his ex girlfriend there. She went totally psycho. She hit me and now I have a scratch on my cheek."

"My goodness. Are you alright?" 

"Yeah. It doesn't hurt, but she was calling me a home wrecker. I didn't do anything to come in between her and Ashton though." 

"Well you did stay at his house with him."

"But nothing happened."

"Maybe she doesn't know that." My mom reasoned. 

"I don't know. I just feel bad for him. He said they were together for over a year."

"Maybe they need to talk."

I laughed. "Mom trust me on this one. Him talking to her would be world war three. Besides, I don't think he wants her back. He told me that she just uses him."

"You never know. Crazy things happen all the time."

"Oh. Also, Ashton and Alex met today because Alex was at my office when I got back." 

"How'd that go?"

"Barely a word was said between the two." 

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I answered. 

"How do you feel about Ashton?" She asked. 

"What do you mean?"

"When I say his name, what comes to mind?" 

"Uh. I don't know. Being happy I guess. He's always smiling and when he smiles you can see his dimples." I smiled. "Don't even get me started on when he laughs. I swear he's like half teenage girl or something."

"So you like him?"

"Yeah. He's pretty cool."

"I don't mean in a friendly way Annie."

"Oh. Well I uh, I don't think that. Um. How've you been mom?"

"Nope. You're not changing the subject on me." She said. "You like your boss, don't you?"

"I haven't exactly figured that out." I sighed. "He's sweet, funny, smart, caring, considerate of others, and very responsible. On top of all of that, he is so handsome. He has broken my hotness scale, Ma. He's hotter than Leo."

"Leo?" She gasped. 

"Yes. Not even, the great, Leonardo DiCaprio can compare." 

"What about Alex?"

"Who?"

"Alex." 

"Oh my god." I gasped. "I'm sorry. I just got distracted."

"So how do you feel about him?"

"I love him. He makes me smile and he's really protective of me."

"That's all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you had a lot more to say about Ashton."

"It's kind of hard to explain why you love someone, but you just kind of know. I know that I love him." I said more to myself than to her. 

"Just be careful honey. I don't want my baby to be heartbroken." She said. 

"I will. I have to go. Alex is probably waiting for me." I sighed. "I have to go. I love you, Ma."

"I love you too. Call me soon. Okay?"

"Alright."

"Bye." 

"Bye." I said sadly before hanging up. 

I grabbed my purse and the boxes before I got out of my car. I slowly walked to my apartment building and went up the elevator. 

Talking to my mom really helped me out. I was thinking clearly. The elevator door opened. I saw Alex standing in front on my door. 

Seeing him didn't make my heart flutter anymore, and I didn't want to run to him and hug him. 

Maybe I wasn't as invested in our relationship as I thought. 

___________________

FUN FACT: I sometimes want to be a guy because 1. They have it so much easier. 2. They get to stand up to pee. 3. I COULD BE A DRAG QUEEN!!!! I've been watching too much RuPaul's Drag Race. 

IM RUNNING OUT OF WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU !! (Are those song lyrics??) 

Stay crocs.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

***Liliana's POV***

"Can we take a nap?" I asked. 

"Uh sure." Alex responded. 

We got up from the couch and went to my room. 

Alex and I hadn't talked much since we got into the apartment. I didn't want to talk to him though. I wasn't sure what I would say. 

"Are you sure your cheek doesn't hurt?" He asked me when we laid down. 

"Only when I touch it. I don't think we have anymore band aids." I frowned. 

"It's probably gonna be there for a while." 

"I know." I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Annie can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Ashton." Alex said. 

I kept my eyes closed. "Why?"

"Why did he buy that stuff for you? And why did he call you Liliana?"

"Shaylin's birthday is coming up and I was going to get her a cake. Those were just samples of a bunch of stuff. I offered to pay, but he wouldn't let me." I explained. 

"But why did he call you Liliana?"

"Because it would be unprofessional for him to call me Annie." I lied. 

"Please look at me Annie." He quietly begged. 

I opened my eyes. 

"I've been trying really hard to keep my temper in line, but seeing you talk to him today almost made me lose it." He said 

"You've been doing so good. I'm really proud of you."

"I love you." He whispered. 

I smiled at him. I kissed his cheek and laid my head back down on my pillow. 

"Get some rest. You've had a long day." He said. 

My eyes closed and I drifted to sleep. 

@@@@@

"Alex?" I mumbled as I opened my eyes. He wasn't in the bed beside me anymore. 

I sighed heavily before laying my head back down on the pillow.

"I can't talk right now Emily. I'm with Annie." I heard Alex's muffled voice say. 

"I know baby. I miss you too." He was outside of my room. 

My jaw dropped. 

"I can't wait to see you tonight. I just have to tell her that I have to work or something. Meet me at Applebee's at seven."

I heard him laugh. 

"I know. Dumb bitch believes anything I say."

I felt tears form in my eyes. 

"Bye baby. I'll see you later." 

The door knob twisted, and I quickly rolled over on my stomach. 

"Annie." I heard Alex whisper and he began lightly rubbing my back. 

I tried my best not to cringe. 

"What?" I asked quietly. 

"I have to go to work."

"Bye."

"Love you." He said. I felt his lips press against the back of my head. 

I pretended to be asleep once again. I heard him leave, but I stilled laid there. 

Tears began falling from my eyes. It all made sense. Why he didn't want to stay the night. Why he had to "work" so much. Why he never wanted me to use his phone. He was cheating. Alex was a cheater, and though I had just come to the realization that I didn't love him like I thought I did, it still hurt me. 

Spending seven months with someone just to find out that they were cheating was heartbreaking. 

I don't know how long I was laying there before I heard the door open again. 

"Annie?" I heard Shaylin's voice. 

My door opened.

"You're home early." She said. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel good." I lied. 

"What? What hurts?" She came over to the side of the bed I was on. "My god! What happened to you?" She gasped. 

"I feel so sick." 

"It's okay. You're going to be okay." Shaylin said softly. 

There was an awful ache in my chest, my head was pounding, and my stomach was churning.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" She asked quietly. 

"No." 

"Water?" 

"No."

"Well, what do you want?" She asked. 

"To be alone." I whispered. 

"I'll come and check on you in a little while." She said giving me a gentle hug. 

She let go of me and I felt her get off of the bed. 

I couldn't tell Shaylin what happened. She would kill Alex. I wanted to kill Alex. After all of the shit he put me through, he cheated. 

Of all people that would've been justified to cheat, it was me, but I didn't. I was faithful, never got upset with him, and always supported and encouraged him. 

I didn't understand it. What had I done wrong? 

My phone vibrated on the table next to me. 

"Hello?" I answered without looking to see who it was. 

"Lily?" I heard Ashton's voice say. 

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah." 

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I told you. I'm fine."

"Liliana if you don't tell me what's wrong right now then I'm coming over there." 

"Ashton I'm okay." I sighed. "Did you need something?" 

"Not anymore." He said and hung up. 

"What the hell?" I mumbled. 

I put my phone back on my table and laid my head back again. 

Almost a year with somebody down the drain. Alex said he had changed, but I didn't think he meant into a cheater. 

The awful pounding in my head had gotten worse. I could hear and feel my heart beating. 

I closed my eyes in hopes of getting some sleep, but that was as unsuccessful as my attempt to stop thinking of Alex. 

I didn't know what I was going to do. I needed to break up with him, but when and how? Did I need proof of him cheating before breaking up with him?

I heard a knock on the front door. 

"Shaylin get the door!" I yelled. 

The knocking continued. 

I groaned before getting up and walking to the door. I wiped my eyes before opening the door. 

"Ashton?" I frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"You wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

"You're fucking creepy." I laughed lightly. 

"You wanna tell me what happened?" He asked. 

"No." 

"Can I come in?" 

"No." 

"Lily why are you acting like this?" He asked me sadly. 

"It's been a bad day."

"You look like you could use a hug." He opened his arms. 

I looked at him for a moment before walking into his embrace. I inhaled his familiar scent and nuzzled my face into his chest. 

"Did you just smell me?" He laughed. 

"Mhm." 

I felt butterflies in my stomach as he giggled. 

"Ash I need your help with something." I said looking up. 

He was biting his lip trying to contain a smile. 

"Why are you smiling?" I asked curiously. 

"You called me Ash."

I rolled my eyes. "Will you help me?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I need you to take me to Applebee's at seven."

"May I ask why?"

"I uh, I think that Alex is going to be there."

"I don't want to take you there so you can go on a date."

"But I think he's meeting another girl. I need someone else there to tell me that he's not cheating on me and I'm being crazy." I said. "Or maybe I just need someone to tell me that he is cheating."

A look of sympathy passed through his eyes. "It's almost seven. Let's go to Applebee's."

"I need shoes."

I went to my room and quickly put my converse on. 

"Ready?" He asked. 

"Yeah."

"What's your shirt for?" He asked. 

"What?" I looked down. "Oh. It's an old tournament shirt."

"Tournament for what?"

"Softball."

"You played softball?"

"Yeah. I played on a competitive team. We weren't that good, but it always gave me something to do." I said as we got into his car. 

"I bet you were amazing. You probably got all the outs and points, but you're just telling me you aren't that good because you want to be humble."

I laughed. "I actually wasn't that bad. My freshman year I was scouted to play for an Australian team."

"What?" He gasped dramatically. 

"Yep. I could've gone to Sydney for a summer and played softball. If I liked it, I could've moved out there."

"So you're telling me that I could've met you earlier in life?"

"Yes, but I was fifteen when it happened. I'm not sure that you would've wanted to talk to me."

"I always want to talk to you." He said sweetly. "But did you go?"

"No. I wanted to, but my mom said she didn't want me away for so long. She could've handled me away for the summer, but I didn't go then either."

"Why?"

"I was afraid that I would meet a tall handsome Australian man with blonde hair and a super adorable smile. I didn't want to be heartbroken when he decided to give up on his music career and move to Los Angeles to run a family business."

"You think my smile is adorable?" He asked with a stupid grin plastered on his face. 

I rolled my eyes. "Off all the things that I said, that was what you heard?"

"No. You also think that I'm handsome." He smirked. 

"I was talking about Luke." 

"What?" He said with wide eyes. 

"Yeah. I've only met him a few times, but I think he's the greatest. I want to climb him like a tree."

"What? Are you serious?" 

"No." I laughed. "He's hot, but not my type."

"Thank god. You scared the shit out of me."

"He's got really nice legs though. I would gladly swap legs with him."

"He does have nice legs, but yours are better."

I blushed at his compliment. 

"Thanks."

"I mean it. Your legs are tan and really long compared to the rest of your body. They're soft too. His are just pale and hairy and bleh." 

"I get it." I laughed. 

"Sorry. Just trying to get a point across."

For a few seconds, I forgot that I was sad. I forgot everything that had happened in the few hours previous to this awful day. 

It was like the few seconds after you wake up and you forget everything. You don't remember what's going on in your life. That's what Ashton did for me. He made me forget the bad and only see good. 

"Can I ask you something?" He asked after a while. 

"Sure."

"What are you going to do if Alex is there with another girl?"

"I don't know. I don't want to confront him." I sighed. "Maybe I'll talk to him about it tomorrow." 

"We're here."

I quickly got out of the car so I wouldn't have a chance to change my mind. 

Ashton followed me, but when we got halfway to the door, I stopped. 

"What's wrong?" He asked me. 

"I can't do this."

"Yes you can. Come on." He walked toward me, but I backed away. 

"What if he's in there and he's with a girl? What do I do? I can't just watch him cheat on me. What if he sees us? What if he gets mad and-" I cut myself off before I said too much. 

"And what?"

"And hurts you." I said, but I wasn't as concerned for his health as much as I was concerned with mine. 

"I'll be fine." He said putting his hands on my shoulders. "Now let's go." 

"But I'm scared." I pouted. 

"Woman up." He said. 

"What?"

"Kind of like man up, but woman up because sometimes women are stronger than men and the world needs to realize that."

"That's the most wonderful thing I think you've ever said."

"Thank you. I saw it on tv."

His right hand slid down my arm and grabbed my left hand. 

I looked down at our entwined fingers. 

"Okay. Let's go."

We walked the rest of the way to the restaurant. We got a table in the corner of the place and ordered drinks. 

I nervously moved around in my seat and looked for Alex. I didn't see him until I looked at the bar. 

He was sitting there alone. 

"Ash I see him."

"Where?" 

"He's at the bar, but he's alone." I said before I took a drink. 

"Uh. I don't think he's alone."

I looked up to see that Ashton was right. There was a girl there that wasn't there before. Her hair was shoulder length and dyed bright red. She was absolutely stunning. He kissed her cheek and held her hand on the countertop. 

The waitress walked back over to us asking if we were ready to order. 

"Can we get the check?" I asked. 

"Uh yeah. Sure thing." She said and walked away. 

I pulled ten dollars out of my wallet and put it on the table. 

"You said that I could pay, so I'm paying." I said before Ashton could protest. 

The waitress dropped the check off and I handed her the money. 

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." I said sadly. 

When we were walking out of Applebee's, he put his arm around my shoulders. 

"It'll be okay. We'll figure something out."

We got to his car and he hugged me. 

"You're taking tomorrow off." He said. 

"No. I always take off and you should just fire me or something. I don't deserve that job, I don't deserve Alex, and I don't deserve your kindness." I felt tears build up in my eyes as I pulled away from him. 

"Stop it." He said sternly. "Alex is the one that doesn't deserve you, and you do deserve my kindness. You deserve more kindness than I could offer. And as for the job, you earned that."

"I'm sorry." I whispered. 

"For what?"

"I always drag you into my drama."

"I don't care about any of that. I like hanging out with you." He said sincerely.

"Will you stay the night?" I asked sadly. 

"Of course."

____________________

FUN FACT: My favorite kind of juice is Apple juice. Yeah. Mmm. Boring. 

Anywhooooo

I love you guys. Thank you so much for sticking by me and reading this shitty story. 

Stay crocs.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"What the fuck? Annie are you serious?" I heard someone say. 

I opened my eyes to see Shaylin standing in front of me. 

"What?" I yawned. 

"You promised me that nothing was going on with Ashton!" 

"Nothing is." I said as I cuddled into Ashton's chest. "I promise."

"I thought you were sick."

"I felt sick." I said. "I just found out some really sad stuff. Ashton helped me deal with it."

"You fucking disgust me." She said and walked out of my room. 

"Lily?" I heard Ashton whisper. 

"I didn't mean to wake you." I said looking up at him. 

"Good morning sunshine." He smiled lazily. 

My heart fluttered. 

"Shaylin's mad at me."

"Why?" He asked as he stretched. 

"She thinks that I'm cheating on Alex with you."

"Does she know that you're not the unfaithful one in the relationship?" 

"No. I think I'll tell her after I break up with Alex." I sighed. 

"So you're breaking up with him?" 

"Mhm."

"Good. You deserve so much better than him."

"We have to go to work." I said changing the subject. 

"I'm the boss I don't have to go when I don't want to." He closed his eyes and rubbed with face with the hand that wasn't resting on my lower back. 

"I don't think that it works that way."

"I know, I know." He rolled us over, but continued to cuddle me. "But I can't cuddle you at work."

I felt my cheeks get hot.

"Ten more minutes and then we're getting up." I said. I couldn't resist him. 

"I like your hair this length." I said quietly as I ran my fingers through his soft curls. 

"I was gonna get it cut."

"Don't."

"I won't." He said, making me smile. 

"Lily?" He asked. 

"Hmm?"

"What made you apply for a job at my company?"

I thought for a moment before answering. 

"I don't know. There were so many places hiring, but your company just stuck out. I would try to look for other jobs, but I just kept coming back to you. Also, I was overqualified for the job that I applied for. It was almost a guarantee that I would get a job. I'm glad that I got hired. You've really changed my life." 

"Where are you from?" He asked completely changing the subject. 

"St. Louis."

"That's in...Tennessee. Right?" 

I started laughing. "Missouri."

"They're close. Right?" 

"Tennessee borders part of the boot heel." I said still laughing. 

"I'm not sure what that means. What's it like there?" He looked up at me. 

"Dangerous in the city. I lived out in the country about forty five minutes away from the actual city."

"Oh. Looks like I got myself a good ol' country girl." He said in an awful southern accent. 

"I don't talk like that."

"Did ya get fresh milk every sunrise from your prize winnin', best friend cow named Betsy?" He continued his accent. 

"Stop it." I giggled. 

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout little missy." 

"Ashton." I continued to giggle. 

"I love your laugh." He said in his regular voice again. 

"Ew. Why? It's all high pitched and weird, and I almost never laugh the same way twice."

"I think it's cute."

"I like your laugh."

"Which one?" He giggled. 

"I like when you laugh really hard and it gets all high pitched and stuff. And when you're talking but you're still laughing. That ones good too." I bit my lip and thought for a moment. "Your giggle. That's my favorite."

"I don't giggle. I'm a manly man."

"No. You giggle like a little kid and I love it. It's the cutest thing."

"I am pretty cute, aren't I?" He smirked. 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Don't deny it. My mum always told me that I would grow up to be the handsomest man alive."

"Mum." I mocked his accent. 

"What?"

"You say it weird."

"How do you say it?" He asked. 

"Mom."

"Mom sounds weird. It's mum."

"We have to go." 

"Mum mom mum mom. Weird."

"Ashton"

"Okay fine." He sighed. "Get ready. I'll drive you."

"No. You'll be late if you drive me. Just go."

"Why must you be so difficult?" 

He rolled off of me and got out of my bed. 

"What are you doing?" I asked him as I sat up. 

"I'm getting you some clothes to take to my place so you can get ready there." He answered. 

I watched as he went through my closet. 

"You've got a lot of band shirts." He noted. 

He finally walked back over to me with a blue button-up shirt and a black pencil skirt.

"Shoes are in the bottom of the closet." I said. 

He walked back to the closet and looked for a minute. 

"These are my favorite." He said as he walked back over to me with black heels. 

"What?"

"I like it when you wear these."

"Oh." I blushed. 

"Let's go." He said. 

"You need to put some clothes on." I told him even though I wanted the exact opposite. 

"Oh right." He frowned. 

"I could just put these clothes on and do my makeup at your place." I suggested. 

"Alright."

I put on the skirt before walking over to my dresser to get a bra. 

Ashton was still trying to get his jeans on so I quickly turned my back to him and took off my shirt. I tried to hook the bra, but for some reason it just didn't want to cooperate. 

Just as I was about to give up and hook it in the front, I felt a pair of hands touch my back. 

"There you go." Ashton said. 

"Thanks." I whispered breathlessly. 

"Yeah. Have you seen my shirt?" He asked. 

I slipped my arms through the straps and looked around. 

"Oh. It's right here." I said picking it up. It was on my side of the bed. 

"How'd it get over there?"

"No clue." I shrugged. 

I put my shirt on and began to button it up. 

"Do I have anything important today?" He asked. 

"I don't think so." I said. "Wait. Yes you do. You have a conference call with the Australian office." 

"What time?" 

"Three."

"I have to go down there soon." He said. 

"Down where?"

"Australia. You ready?"

"Yeah. Just let me put on my shoes."

I grabbed the heels from my bed and put them on my feet before walking to my dresser and spraying some perfume on myself. I walked to my bathroom and put my makeup in my small travel bag and walked out to see Ashton sitting on my bed. 

"Oh. I need my purse." I remembered. "Crap. Where'd I put it?"

"It's on the couch." 

"Oh right. Have you seen-"

"Your phone is in my pocket." He said. "Are you ready now?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

@@@@

"Liliana." I heard someone sing from the doorway of my office. 

"Ashton." I sang back without looking up from my papers. 

"Whatcha doin?" He asked. 

"Proofing your letter to the owner of McDonald's."

"Oh." He said as he sat down in a chair. 

"You don't know the difference between there, their, they're, your, and you're."

"I think they're all the same to me. Besides, that's why I have you."

"Mhm." My eyes were still on the paper. 

"You wanna do something?"

"You mean other than my job?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Please." He begged me. 

"No Ashton."

"But-"

"It's two forty. Do you know what happens in twenty minutes?" I looked at him. 

"We walk into an IHOP and order some pancakes?" He asked. 

"No. You talk about money and business with our Australian office."

"Oh right." He frowned. "Hey do you wanna do me a favor?"

"It's what you pay me for." I laugh. 

"I have this thing to go to in a couple of weeks. Will you go with me?" 

"What thing?"

"It's a charity event. Super formal. We could go and buy you a dress." 

"You know I don't like it when you spend money on me." I frowned. 

"I know, but dresses can get expensive." He said. 

"I can pay for it."

"Okay. Okay. I would still like to come along when you buy it so I could at least see the dress."

"Alright. We'll talk later, but right now, you have to go."

"You wanna come over tonight?" He asked. 

"Later, Ashton."

"Come on Lily. Can't you just reschedule it?"

"No. Now go."

He pouted, but stood up. 

"Can you get me some water or something?" He asked on the way out. 

"Yeah. I'll bring it to your office when I'm done with this."

"Thanks Liliana." He smiled and walked out. 

I circled the last error and got up to get his water. 

The events that happened that morning replayed in my head. 

Ashton walked out of his bathroom in only a towel. 

"You like what you see?" He asked. 

"Mhm." I mumbled quietly. My eyes quickly widened. "I mean no. Not that it's not good I just- I'm gonna stop talking."

"Why do you wear makeup?" He asked. 

"It makes me look better."

"Impossible." 

"What?"

"You can't make perfection any better." He told me. 

It was a great morning. He was so sweet to me all the time. It made me wonder if he liked me back, but that was a thought that was always pushed to the back of my mind. Bosses don't like employees 

I sighed as I turned the corner and got ready to enter the break room. 

"I think she's sleeping with Mr. Irwin." I heard a voice say. It sounded like Megan. I stood still. 

"What?" An unfamiliar voice spoke. 

"Yeah. I mean it makes sense. She calls him Ashton, they almost always walk into work together, and yesterday they went to lunch together."

Me?

"Well she is his assistant."

Definitely me. 

"And how do you think she got promoted that fast? I've been working here longer than her and I've gotten nothing."

"Megan just calm down." 

"She's going to the charity whatever with him!" 

"So?"

"Couples go places. Not friends."

"Stop overreacting. You sound crazy right now." 

"He asked her to come over tonight." She said. 

"Maybe they were friends before she got the job." the other girl defended me. 

"Or maybe she's a whore that fucks her way through life."

I couldn't listen to anymore. I walked into the room. 

"Oh hey Annie." Megan said sweetly. 

I gave her a fake smile before walking over to the fridge and getting a bottle of water. 

"Megan go get me some lunch from Noodles and Company." I said. 

"But that's all the way across town." She frowned. 

"But you get paid to do whatever I tell you to." I mocked her tone. 

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the break room. 

I smiled smugly before turning to her friend. 

"Tell Megan that it's rude to talk about people behind their back." I said and walked off. 

I gave Ashton his water and returned to my office to do work. 

As soon as I sat down, the desk phone started to ring. I waited for the second sound before answering. 

"Ashton Irwin's office."

"Annie, an Alex Andrews is here to see you."

"Yeah. Uh send him up." I said. 

I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. 

"You can do this." I whispers to myself. 

I tapped my fingers on my desk while I waited for him to show up. 

"Hey babe." I heard his voice. 

"Don't." I said. I stood up and closed the door before sitting down again. 

He sat in a chair across from me. 

"Don't what?"

"Don't call me babe."

"Why?"

"Because I'm breaking up with you." I said sternly. 

He laughed lightly. "No you aren't."

"I am. I'm not going to be cheated on anymore. I can't believe you would do this after all of the shit that I've put up with."

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"I saw you with Emily last night. Ashton can back me up."

"Ashton as in, your boss Ashton?" He asked. 

"Yep."

"Why the fuck were you with him?" He asked angrily. 

"Why the fuck were you with her?" I countered. 

"I got tired of fucking you. Now why were you with him?"

"Because I got tired of fucking you."

When I said that, something in him changed. His eyes were darker and his breathing became shallow. This was the Alex that I was all too familiar with. 

He stood up and walked over to my side of the desk. 

"What the fuck did you just say?" He growled. 

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." I stuttered. 

He grabbed my hair and pulled me out of my chair. I landed on the floor. 

"I'm sorry." I cried. 

"Shut the fuck up!" He said and kicked my side. A sharp pain shot through me. 

"What the fuck happened between you and him?" 

"Nothing." I whispered. 

"Answer me!" He kicked me again. 

"Nothing happened." I said louder. 

He pulled my hair again. 

"Stand up!"

I weakly stood on my feet as he hit my cheek. 

"You fucking disgust me." He said. 

"I'm sorry." 

He hit me again before throwing me on the floor. I felt something pop in my arm when I hit the ground. 

He kicked me one more time, but I barely felt it. My whole body was numb, yet I was in so much pain. 

He crouched down next to me. He picked my head up by my hair and turned it toward him. 

"You're a fucking disgrace to humanity. No one will ever want you. You're nothing but a whore that will fuck anything that has a pulse." He said harshly. 

He dropped my head and my nose hit the ground. I felt blood start to come out of it. I couldn't move. 

I heard my office door open and close again. Alex left. 

Why didn't anyone hear what happened? Would anyone come to help me?

I opened my mouth and tried to scream but began coughing. There was an awful metallic taste in my mouth. Blood. 

My eyelids became heavier and heavier. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do anything. 

My eyes closed and the world around me became silent. 

___________________

FUN FACT: I have braces. I'm hopefully getting them off later this year. But they put a power chain on top and bottom and I haven't been able to eat solid food for a week. 

Love, love me do. You know I love you. 

Stay crocs.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

***Shaylin's POV***

"Shaylin, there's someone on the phone for you." Ashley said. 

I quickly finished cleaning the table and answered.

"Hello?" I said. 

"Shaylin Miller?" A woman's voice asked. 

"This is she." 

"Hi, this is the North Los Angeles Hospital. We have Liliana Brooks here, and you're listed as her emergency contact."

"Oh my god! What happened?" 

"We don't know the full story yet, but she's in surgery right now. I suggest that you come as soon as possible." They said. 

"Thank you so much." I said and hung up. 

"I have to go. Annie's in the hospital." I said to my boss. 

"Alright. I'll find someone to cover your shift."

I grabbed my purse from the back before practically running to my car. 

After I unlocked it, I got in and began fumbling with my keys. They fell on the floor. 

"God damn it!" 

I picked up my keys and took a deep breath. I slowly put my keys in the ignition and started it. 

A million things were running through my mind. I didn't know what to do. 

Though it was dangerous, I got out my phone to call Annie's mom. 

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up." I whispered. 

"Hello?" I heard. 

"Thank god! Christi you need to fly out here as soon as you can. Annie is in the hospital they don't know what happened, but she's in surgery."

"W- what?" She asked. 

"Please just fly out to Los Angeles as soon as you can! I have to go I'm at the hospital now."

"Well catch the next flight that we can." 

I ran through the doors and straight to the reception desk. 

"Where's Liliana Brooks?" I asked quickly. 

"Sorry?" The nurse asked. 

"Liliana Brooks. Where is she?"

"Can I get your name please?" She asked. 

"Tell me where she is!" I yelled. 

"Miss you need to calm down and tell me your name so I can give you the information."

"My name is Shaylin Miller and I'm looking for Liliana Brooks. I'm listed as her emergency contact." I said calmly. 

She typed on the keyboard for a minute before answering me. 

"She's still in surgery. If you'd like, you can wait in Waiting Room 6. Walk all the way down this corridor take a right and it'll be the third door on your left." 

"Thank you." 

I walked around the desk and followed her directions. 

Upon entry, I found only one other person. His face was in his hands and he was crying. 

I sat down on the other side of the room. 

I felt awful about this morning. If she didn't make it out of this, my last words to her consisted of me telling her that she disgusted me. 

I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. 

"She's gonna make it." I whispered over and over to myself. 

"Shaylin?" Someone said. 

I looked up to see that the other man in the room was Ashton. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"I- I found her." He said quietly. 

"What?" I moved over to sit by him. 

"I walked to her office and she was on the floor. There was blood everywhere. She wouldn't wake up." He cried. "They wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Shaylin Miller?" Someone said. There was a doctor standing in the doorway. 

"That's me." I said. 

"Okay, the surgery went well. She had some internal bleeding. She's got two broken ribs, a broken nose, a small fracture in the growth plate of her right wrist, her right elbow is fractured, there's acute swelling in the brain, and she's bruised fairly well on her face."

"Oh my god."

"The recovery time may vary. When she wakes up, it will be four to six weeks in a cast for her arm, and two to three weeks of bed rest for her ribs to heal."

"What the hell happened to her?" I asked. 

"I came out here to ask you the same question. Mr. Irwin, you were the one that found her?"

"Yeah. I had just gotten out of a meeting. I went to tell her to go home for the day and I found her in a puddle of blood. She wouldn't wake up so I called the ambulance."

"Anything else you can tell me?" The doctor asked. 

"That's all. I swear."

The doctor nodded and began walking away. 

"When can I see her?" I asked. 

"Right now, she's in a medically induced coma. We'll take her out of it when the swelling in her brain goes down. We're letting her body rest. We checked her into the ICU. Room 312 on the third floor. One at a time." 

"Thank you so much, doctor." Ashton said as the doctor left. 

My phone vibrated. It was a text from Caleb. 'Just got on the plane. Should be there in a few hours.' 

"Her family is flying out."

"Go see her. I'll make reservations for her family at a hotel."

"Ashton I'm sorry about this morning. I just, I don't like cheaters. I had a bad experience before and it just pisses me off."

"Annie wasn't the one cheating."

"What?"

"Alex is cheating on her. She was supposed to break up with him today. I'm not sure if she did."

"Wait. Then why did you stay with her yesterday."

"She asked me to. She was really upset about Alex after we saw him with that girl."

"I'm such an idiot." I said as I closed my eyes. "I was such a bitch this morning." 

Tears rolled down my cheeks again.

"She'll be okay." Ashton said as pulled me into a hug. 

"Who would've done this to her?" I whispered. 

"I'll get my office to play the security tapes." He said. 

"Okay. Maybe you should go in and see her first." I offered. 

"No. You need to go in there. I have to make some phone calls."

I nodded and left the waiting room. I found the elevators and took one up to the third floor. 

It seemed like everything was in slow motion. I stepped out of the elevator and looked around. There was nurses and doctors everywhere. I took a peek in one of the rooms. 

An elderly woman laid in the bed. She didn't look very sick. Her monitor was beeping steadily. It looked as if she would be out of this unit soon. 

I continued walking and looked at the room numbers. 

"302... 304... 306... 308..." I was counting them out loud. "310... 312." 

I didn't want to look inside of her room. I was afraid of what I might find. I stood in front of the open door for a minute. The curtain around her bed was pulled so I could only see her feet that were under a green blanket. 

The sterile smell of the hospital cleaner was suffocating me. The beeping of everyone's heart monitors seemed to get louder as the seconds dragged on. 

The nurses were talking loudly and laughing at the center a few yards away from me. But how could they laugh when people were dying all around them?

My own heartbeat rang in my ears. I had a feeling that it was going too fast because I was feeling a little light headed. But that could've been the cleaner doing that. At least if I passed out, there would be doctors all around me and I would get help me. 

How long had Annie waited for help? Why didn't anyone hear what happened? Were they too busy to notice? Did anyone care?

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my daze. 

"Miss are you alright?" A nurse asked. 

"Yeah. I'm just kind of nervous to go in." I replied. 

"If you need any help, don't hesitate to come out and ask for anything." He said and walked away. 

I inhaled deeply before gathering the courage to step in. 

I took small, slow steps until I reached the curtain. One more step and I'd be around it. 

I took the step that carried me to the other side of the curtain. I didn't want to look, but I did. 

She was laying there like a doll. There was no life in her. A bandage wrapped around her head covered her brown hair. She had tubes in her arms. There were a few tubes in her mouth. I assumed that one was for her breathing. There was a machine pumping steadily by her bed. 

I could barely recognize her. One eye was swollen shut and instead of having her usual tan skin, it was different shades of red and purple. 

Whoever it was had to have been trying to kill her. But who would've done this? She's been nothing but nice to everyone. 

The tears rolled down my cheeks as I pulled a chair beside her bed. I sat down and carefully held her left hand. 

"I'm so sorry." I said. "You don't deserve this."

"I didn't mean what I said this morning. You know that I didn't mean it."

"I love you Annie. You're a pain in the ass half of the time, but I love you. You're my best friend. It hurts so bad to see you like this."

"I just hope you aren't in pain."

"We're going to find who did this Annie." 

I kissed her hand softly. 

"You're going to be okay Annie. Everything is going to be okay."

***Ashton's POV***

"I need you to review the security tapes for the thirteenth floor, particularly around Liliana Brooks' office. Look for any suspicious activity." I said to my head of security, over the phone. 

"Okay, sir, do you know around what time the incident happened?"

"Check anywhere from two forty-five to around four fifteen."

"Alright. We'll get right on it."

"Report back to me right away if you find anything."

"Yes sir." 

I hung up the phone and paced around the waiting room. 

Shaylin had only been gone for about ten minutes but it seemed like an eternity. 

I dialed a number on my phone again. 

"Irwin Incorporated, Megan speaking. How may I help you?" She answered. 

"Megan I need you to get everyone on our floor into CR three immediately. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." 

I walked out of the waiting room and found my way to my car. 

I felt sick as the image of Lily laying on the floor popped into my head. 

The tears that came to my eyes blurred my vision. I quickly blinked them away. 

I was going to get to the bottom of all of this. Someone had to have heard what happened. 

I pulled into the parking lot and made my way through the building. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down before going in there. 

I walked into the conference room, and everyone became silent. 

"I'm sure you all know what happened earlier this afternoon." I said. "I have a few questions for everyone."

I closed the door and walked to the front of the room. 

"Did any of you hear anything?" 

No one answered. 

"Alright, let me make myself clearer." I said. 

"I will fire every single one of you if none one tells me what the hell happened to Liliana!" I yelled. 

The room was once again silent. 

"You. What's your name?" I asked as I pointed to a girl. 

"Marie." She said. 

"Get out Marie. You're fired. Who's next?"

"Sir maybe you should think about what you're doing here." Megan spoke up. 

"What do you know Megan? Your office is right by hers. What happened?"

"I don't know. I was getting lunch for her."

"You." I pointed to a man. "Did you hear anything?" 

"No sir."

"If you even think that you heard something then raise your god damn hand. I will not hesitate to fire all of you."

Four people raised their hands sheepishly. 

"Everyone else leave." I said. 

The rest of the room was cleared aside from the five of us. 

There were three girls and a guy.

"What do you know?" I asked the guy. 

"I saw a guy walk into her office and they closed the door. I didn't hear anything, but when he left, he looked mad."

"I just heard yelling. It didn't sound like anything serious. I just thought that they were arguing." One girl said. 

"What about you two?" I asked. 

"I was walking by her office and I heard a thud. I asked if things were okay, I just heard someone say sorry. I thought she was okay." 

I looked at the last girl. 

"I heard yelling, but I didn't want to meddle. I was just trying to be respectful of one's privacy. I'm so sorry Mr. Irwin." She said. Tears were welling in her eyes. 

"Thank you guys. Sorry for being so harsh." I said. "You're free to go."

They walked out of the room and I sat down. 

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. 

"Irwin." I answered. 

"Sir there were only two people in and out of her office between the times that you gave me."

"I'll be to the security room in a minute." I said and hung up. 

I walked out of the room and to the elevator. I took it down one floor. 

"Alright, Paul, let me see it." I said. 

"Sir, you're one of the men. I didn't recognize the other." 

The video played in front of me. I couldn't see the mans face when he walked in. 

"Fast forward to when he leaves." I told him. He did as I instructed. "Stop it right there." 

Paul stopped the video and zoomed in on the guy's face.

My jaw dropped. I knew who it was. 

"Thank you Paul." I said and walked away. 

I pulled the card out of my pocket and dialed the number on it. 

"Hello, Detective Brown?" I asked. 

"It's Ashton Irwin. I think I know who hurt Annie."

_______________ 

FUN FACT: I don't care how old I get, if Blue's Clues comes on, and Steve is the guy on the show, I'll watch the shit out of that. But that show really got me fucked up. Blue is a girl and Magenta is a boy.

I Love You 5. 

Stay crocs.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

***Alex's POV***

"You really broke up with her?" Emily asked me. 

"Mhm. Just for you. I love you Em." 

Just when I was about to kiss her, there was a knock on the door. 

"I'll be right back." I groaned. 

I got up and walked to the door.

"Can I help you, officers?" I asked when I opened it. 

"Alexander Andrews?"

"Yes?"

"Alex what's going on?" I heard Emily say from behind me. 

"You're under arrest for the assault and battery and possible attempt of murder of Liliana Brooks." 

"Alex what are they talking about?" Emily asked. 

"I don't know." I replied. An officer stepped toward me. 

"I think you've got the wrong person." I stepped back. 

"In that case, I'm sure you wouldn't mind coming down to the station to clear your name." 

I was shoved against a wall and put into handcuffs. 

"I didn't touch her!" I yelled. I tried to turn and get out of the handcuffs. "It wasn't me!"

They didn't listen. There was no use in resisting anymore. I blocked out what they were saying. I hung my head as they pushed me through my apartment building. 

Many of my neighbors had their heads sticking out of their doorways. 

The officers threw me in the back of the car and began driving. 

Assault and battery? Attempted murder? It couldn't have been me. It wasn't me. I didn't hurt her that badly. She was fine when I left. 

"Get out." An officer said. 

I looked up at him. We had pulled into a police station. I slowly got out of the car. He lead me to a room. 

I sat down in a metal chair. 

"Brown will be in here shortly." He said and closed the door. 

I didn't hurt her. She was just faking it. There was no way that attempted murder was even a possibility. 

The door opened and a large man walked in. He looked like he was around fifty. He sat down in the chair opposite of me. 

"Do you know why you're here?" He asked. 

I stayed silent. 

"Look kid, I know that you don't want to be here, but we have serious reason to believe that you were the one who beat Liliana Brooks." He said. 

I looked at him. 

"Now I'm going to ask you a few questions. We can both get outta here if you answer them honestly."

I nodded. 

"Do you know Liliana Brooks?"

"Yes." I answered quietly. 

"What is your relationship with her?"

"She's my girlfriend, seven months." I said before correcting myself. "Ex girlfriend now."

"You two broke up recently?"

"Today actually." 

"So you saw her today?" 

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what happened when you saw her?" 

"I walked into her office, we talked for a minute, we broke up, and I left."

"Can you give me specific details? For example, what did you talk about?."

I closed my eyes trying to remember. 

"She got tired of...being with me. I guess she found someone else. She accused me of cheating."

"And did you?"

"No." I said. He gave me a look. "Yes, but I didn't mean to."

"So you, accidentally cheated. Is that what you're saying?"

"I don't know."

"What do you know?" He raised his voice. 

"I cheated on her, but that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to make her happy."

"How?" 

"I took anger management classes."

"Why?"

"Because I lose my temper easily."

"Did you hit her?"

"I don't know. I black out sometimes when I'm mad."

"So you could've hit her?" 

"No. I would never." I lied. 

"So hearing your girlfriend of seven months tell you that she doesn't want to be with you anymore didn't upset you?"

"Of course. I mean-"

"Hearing that she wanted to be with another man didn't make you even the slightest bit angry?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Beating caught in your own lie didn't anger you to the point where you hit her?"

He was starting to make me mad, but I tried keeping things under control. 

"Why'd you have to take anger management classes Alex?" He asked. 

"Because I snapped at guys that tried talking to her."

"Or was it because you snapped at her?" He yelled. "You noticed that she was talking to other guys and you couldn't handle it!"

"That's not true!" 

"You couldn't handle the fact that she didn't want you anymore! You got mad at her because you couldn't live up to her expectations!"

"I didn't mean to!" I yelled. 

He was silent. 

"I swear I never meant to hurt her." My voice was quieter. He knew. There was no reason to hide anything anymore. 

"Then why did you?"

"I don't have a reason. I got mad and I needed someone to take it out on. She was there and she never left me. I wouldn't let her."

"What do you mean you wouldn't let her?"

"She tried to break up with me, a lot. Every time she even mentioned it, I would hit her. I would tell her that she was mine. That no one else wanted her."

"Are you aware that she was in the hospital a few weeks ago because she got a concussion?"

I nodded. 

"She gave the story that she was mugged. Is this true?"

"No. I did it. She came home smelling like cologne, so I hit her. I choked her and she passed out. That's when we went on a break and I started cheating."

"When did you first start becoming violent with Ms. Brooks?" He asked. 

"About four months ago. We were at a restaurant. The waiter was flirting with her. She asked me what my problem was when we got into the parking lot. She just wouldn't stop talking so I hit her."

"What about after that?"

"She would make me jealous or talk to other guys. It pissed me off. I wanted her to know that she was only mind and she couldn't talk to anyone else."

"Have you always had problems with violence?"

"I don't know. I got in a lot of fights as a kid. A never thought it was bad."

"Those are all the questions I have to ask for today. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"I didn't mean to hurt her. I just got so mad. I know I'm not going anywhere any time soon. Can you do me a favor?" I asked him. 

"What?"

"Just tell her that I'm sorry." 

"It might be a while kid." 

"What? Why?"

"She's in a coma." He said and walked out of the small room. 

If I could've put my face in my hands then I would've. The cuffs were hurting my wrists, so I tried to keep the moving to a minimum. 

A police officer walked into the room. 

"Where are you taking me?" I asked. 

"You're going to jail for a while until we get you a trial. You really messed up, kid."

@@@@@@@@

***Ashton's POV***

"Alex did it?" Shaylin asked. 

"Yes. Detective Brown just called saying that Alex confessed to that among other things."

"I need some air." She said and walked off. 

"Fuck!" I heard one of Liliana's brothers say. I think it was Blake. 

He punched the wall before continuing to pace. 

Her family had arrived a couple of hours ago. Her mum was in the room with her leaving the rest of us in the waiting room. 

I still hadn't gone in to see her. I didn't want to. I didn't want another image of her unconscious burned into my memory. 

"I uh, I made a reservation for the Presidential Suite at the Hilton for you guys." I said to no one in particular. 

"You didn't have to do that." I heard the man, who I assumed was Charlie, say. 

"I want the best for Liliana and her family. It's no problem at all." 

"Are you her boyfriend or something?" One of the younger boys asked. 

I smiled at the thought. "No. Not yet."

"So then what are you?" The other one spoke.

"Her friend I guess."

"Lance, Jacob. Stop interrogating him." Charlie said. 

"I don't mind sir. They're just looking out for their sister."

"Have you gone back to see her?"

"No. Just waiting for the right time." I shrugged. 

"Shaylin said you found her?" 

I nodded my head. The image of her lying on the floor flashed in my mind again. A cold chill ran through my body. 

"So, you know the guy that did this to her?"

"Yeah. His name is Alex. He's her ex boyfriend."

"I just don't get why someone would do this to my little girl." He said sadly. 

"They have him in custody now, but I promise you if I would've known that he was hurting her, I wouldn't have let him be with her for another second."

"I knew it was a bad idea for her to move out here so young." 

Liliana's mum walked into the waiting room. 

"Visiting hours are over." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. 

"I can tell my driver my driver to take you to the Hilton." I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. 

"Oh, no. We can't afford the Hilton."

"It's already taken care of. I got the Presidential Suite for you and your family."

"I can't accept that."

"Liliana is just like you." I said with a small laugh. 

"I feel like a terrible person right now. I didn't even get your name." She said. 

"I'm Ashton."

"I'm Christi. That's my husband, Charlie. Kids, introduce yourselves." 

"Lance."

"Jake."

They didn't seem too happy to be there. The conditions weren't the best, but they didn't seem upset. They just seemed pissed off. Blake was pissed off, but that was for a different reason. 

I texted my driver and told him to come to the hospital. 

"He should be here soon." I said. 

"So, you're Ashton." Christi spoke as she sat down next to me. "Annie's told me about."

"She has?"

"Yeah."

I smiled. 

"She was right." She said. 

"Huh?"

"You have a nice smile."

"Thanks." I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. 

My phone buzzed. I quickly looked at it. 

"He's here. I'll walk you guys down there." I said as I stood up. 

The walk was silent. It was awkward, but not as bad as it could have been.

I spotted the black suv and led them to it. 

"This is Anderson. He can give you his number, and he's your ride to anywhere that you need to go while you're here." I told them as they got into the car. 

Christi's arms wrapped around me in a hug. When she pulled away, she held me at arms length. 

"Thank you so much. Not just for the hotel and stuff. You saved my daughter, and I'll be forever grateful." She said before joining her family. 

"Goodnight." I waved goodbye to them as the car pulled away. 

Did I save her? No. Saving her would've been me taking her away from Alex when I had the chance. 

"Hey. I'm going to head home. Are you gonna be okay?"

I turned to see Shaylin. 

"Yeah. I forgot where I parked." I said. 

"Well, I'm this way." She said as she pointed her thumb to the right of me. "Goodnight Ashton." 

I watched as she walked away from me and got into a car. Once she drove away, I walked back into the hospital. 

It wasn't as busy as it was when I first walked through here. There were a couple of nurses leaving, but other than that, it was empty. 

I went up the elevator to the third floor and walked to room 312. I looked around before entering it. 

She was lying on her back. She looked better than when I found her earlier, but still awful. If she wasn't asleep, I know that she'd be in pain. 

I walked over to her and sat in the chair that was by her bed. 

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." I told her. 

"We were supposed to be together tonight. We were gonna eat ice cream and watch the Grinch even though Christmas is months away." 

I grabbed her cold hand. 

"We were supposed to cuddle on the couch until you fell asleep on me."

A tear escaped my eye. 

"You were supposed to wear my shirt to bed and steal the covers from me."

The tears became more frequent. 

"I didn't protect you. I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." 

"I'll make this better. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

______________

FUN FACT: I'm starting to question my life choices because this guy that I used to really hate told me that I was pretty today and I got butterflies in my tum tums. I kinda wanna kiss his face a lot. 

I love you because you vote and comment and read this. 

Stay crocs.


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

***Ashton's POV***

"It's been a week Ashton. They were supposed to wake her up three days ago." Shaylin cried. 

"It takes time to heal. They'll take her out of it when she's ready." I said. I gently rubbed her shoulder. 

"But what if she's never ready?" 

"She will be. You can't think like that." I said sternly. 

Christi entered the waiting room. 

"She's awake." She said happily with tears in her eyes. "Ashton go see her." 

"What me? Why?" I asked. 

"You haven't seen her since she's been in here, but you always wait in this damn waiting room. It's time to stop waiting. Now get in there before I change my mind."

What they didn't know is this every night after they left, I went in and saw her. I would talk to her, and I would sing to her. 

I got up without saying anything and walked to room 312. 

I saw her lying on the bed again, but her eyes were open this time. She hadn't noticed me yet. I walked over to her bed and sat down in the chair. 

"Let's get that tube out of your throat." I heard a voice from behind me. I turned to see the doctor. 

Lily noticed me then. It seemed to me that her eyes lit up. 

The doctor walked around to the right side of the bed. He removed the tape from the tube and held it in place. 

"Alright now take a deep breath for me." He said. "And cough."

When she did, he pulled the tube out. She began coughing more. 

"We'll get you some water." The doctor said walking out. 

I looked at her. I could tell that she was in pain. Her broken ribs were probably on fire. I couldn't help but smile because she was awake. 

A nurse walked in with a cup of water and she handed it to me. 

"I'll leave you two alone." She whispered. 

I handed Lily the water and she took a sip. 

She stopped coughing and looked at me. 

"Hey." I smiled. 

"Hi." Her voice was hoarse. 

"How are you feeling?"

"I hurt everywhere." 

"You scared us." 

"How long have I been in here?" She asked. 

"Eight days."

"Wow." 

"Do you remember what happened?"

She nodded. 

"Alex did it. Didn't he?" I asked softly. 

She nodded again. 

"He's in jail."

Her jaw dropped. 

"He is?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, but we'll talk about this later." I paused for a moment. "You're really hurt."

"What's wrong with me?"

"Few broken ribs, your nose isn't in the best condition, your arm is broken, and you had surgery."

"That would explain the excruciating pain in my torso and the splint on my arm." She took another sip of water. 

She had a pout on her lips as she laid her head back on her pillow. 

"I had such weird dreams. I thought they were real." She said. 

"What about?"

"Well, in one of them, I went to Australia to play softball. I was playing a game and when I was on deck, I saw you sitting in the bleachers. I knew that I knew you, but I didn't know how. You looked at me and smiled before turning back to the game. The rest of what happened was boring, but throughout the game you kept looking at me." She paused to take a drink. 

"Do you dream about me often?" I smirked. 

She mumbled something that I couldn't hear and continued her story. 

"So anyways, after the game, you came up to me. You told me that I was pretty and asked if I wanted to hang out. I said yeah sure whatever and so later you came to my hotel. We went swimming, ran around exploring the hotel, messing with people in the elevators, and then." She paused. "I don't remember."

"What? You were going really strong with that. Are you sure you don't remember?"

"Yeah." She said quickly. 

"Come on Lily. Just tell me." I begged. 

"It's not important."

"I'm so glad that you're okay." I grabbed her hand. "You're finally warm again."

"I was cold?"

"Mhm." 

"Was that actually my mom or was I just dreaming it?" 

"It was actually your mum. Your whole family is here." 

"Mum." She scoffed. 

Before I could say something, a doctor walked into the room. 

"Hey Liliana." She smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Very sore."

"You're hurt pretty badly? But I'm sure that your boyfriend told you that already."

"He's not my- we're not." She fumbled with her words. 

"Sorry. I just assumed. But I have some good news for you. It looks like we can move you out of the ICU tomorrow morning. After we move you, you should only be stuck in here for another two weeks. Would you like me to brief you on your current situation now or later?"

"Later please. I'd like to talk to my family."

"Of course." She said and walked out. 

"Speaking of my family, how are they?" She asked

"Well, Blake and Caleb are pissed that they let this happen even though I told them that none of us could've known what was going on. Your parents are extremely upset that their baby girl is hurt. Jake and Lance just seem pissed off. I tried talking to them, but I don't think that they like me."

"What about Shaylin?"

"She's been taking it really bad. She hates herself for not being nicer last week or seeing that Alex was hurting you."

She sighed heavily and winced in pain. 

"What about you?"

"I regret not staying home with you when given the chance." I told her sadly. 

"Ash it's not your fault." 

I didn't reply. 

"Ashton."

Nothing. 

"Ashton stop. It's not your fault. If anyone's, it's mine. I should've told somebody that Alex was hurting me."

"It's not your fault. Please don't think that." I whispered. 

"I was so dumb." A tear fell from her eye and I gently wiped it away. "He would get mad and hit me. But I loved him. He didn't mean to sometimes. He just lost himself."

She took a deep breath before continuing. She winced once more at the pain. 

"That's no excuse. I shouldn't have let him do it. I just hoped that it would all be better. That he would stop and we could be happy, but it never happened. He used me. For seven months he used me."

"It's okay Lily." I shushed her. "He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore. Now you can be happy with someone that won't hurt you."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She sniffed. 

"And we don't have to. Would you like me to go get your family?"

"No."

"But you told the doctor-"

"I know what I said, but right now I just want to be with you."

"You do?" I asked. 

She nodded. "When was the last time you went to work?"

"A few days ago. I've been checking in though."

"You look like you haven't slept in days."

"I haven't." I laughed lightly. 

"Why?"

"It's kind of hard to sleep without you next to me." I admitted sheepishly. 

"Well hopefully you won't have to do it for much longer." 

I felt myself blush. 

"After you get out of this place, you're going to stay with me." 

"Don't I have a choice?" She smiled. 

"No. I want you to be safe and being safe means that you're with me. Always."

"Not sure how Shaylin's gonna like that." She said. 

"I'll work from home so I don't have to leave you. I can make you breakfast in bed and-"

"Or you could still go into work and I could make breakfast for myself. Don't overreact. I'm fine. Or I will be anyway." 

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't want anything even remotely like this to happen again."

"Me either." 

"I'll go and get your family." I said as I stood. 

"Ash can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Never mind. It's weird."

"I honestly don't think that anything about you could be weird after me walking in on you the balcony scene from Ace Ventura." I giggled. 

"It hurts to laugh so I'm not going to." She said.

"So the favor?"

"Could you uh..." She mumbled the rest. 

"Can I what?"

She mumbled again. 

"Lily just ask me."

"Bring me a blanket or something from your apartment. Maybe the one from the couch or something. I don't know. The smell of your cologne keeps me sane."

I couldn't help but smile widely. 

I wanted to tell her that I liked her right then. I wanted her to know that she was the first thing on my mind when I woke up and the last before I went to bed. I wanted to say how much she meant to me. How happy I was when I was around her. 

Of all the things that I could've and wanted to say, I just gave her a simple nod. 

"Okay."

***Liliana's POV***

"Liliana Marie what the hell were you thinking? Why didn't you let me hurt that fucker when I had the fucking chance?" Blake yelled. 

"Blake Steven Brooks! Don't you dare yell at my baby." My mom defended me. 

"Your baby almost got herself killed mother!"

"Can't we all just be happy that I'm okay now?" I asked. 

"Okay? You call this being okay?" Blake was yelling again. "You're in a goddamn hospital because you were too fucking stupid to break up with that dumb shit."

"I'm sorry." I whispered. 

"Sorry doesn't change the fact that you're in the hospital."

"Blake calm down." Charlie spoke. 

"No! I will not calm down! She almost died and we're all acting like nothing fucking happened."

"Let's go for a walk." Caleb said as he put a hand on Blake's shoulder. 

"Fuck off." Blake said before he left the room. 

"Hey Annie." Caleb smiled. "It's nice to see you not in a vegetable state."

"I think it's vegetative, but thanks." I smiled. "Guys I just want to say that I'm so sorry. I tried breaking up with him. I really did. I'm just glad that it's over now and I don't particularly want to talk about it anymore. Where's Shaylin?"

"She left." 

"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked. 

"I'm better than you would think. Really sore, but it's nothing that I can't handle." 

"Do you want anything?"

"I'm good. Jakers, Lancelot, how have you guys been?" I asked my younger brothers. 

"Fine." They both mumbled. 

Ashton was right, they were grumpy. Ashton. I smiled at the thought of his name.

"I'm glad that everyone came, but you guys need to go home." 

Their faces fell. 

"I know that you want to be here for me, but you all have your own lives that you need to get back to." I said. 

"No. Right now you need us and we're staying right here." My mom said sweetly. 

"Why can't we just leave? She said she was fine." Jake said harshly. 

"What's wrong with you two?" I asked. "I know that you're a teenager and you're pissed off at the world, but-"

"I'm not pissed off at the world. I'm pissed off at you. You get hurt and suddenly we all have to drop our lives to come out here. If this were one of us then you wouldn't even blink your freaking eye."

"Jake." My jaw dropped. "I can't believe you would say that. Of course I would come to see you if you were hurt. Why are you saying this stuff?"

"Because I'm tired of my life revolving around Princess Annie." He walked out and Lance followed him. 

Tears filled my eyes, but I wiped them away. Three out of four of my brothers were mad at me for something that I couldn't entirely help. 

"It's okay sweetie. They just need to cool down." My mom held my hand gently. 

"I'm actually pretty tired. Do you guys mind?"

"No honey. Not at all." My mom stood from the chair and walked to Charlie. 

"I love you guys so much. Go explore the city. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay sweetie we'll be here first thing tomorrow morning." Charlie said. He walked out of my room and my mother followed. 

"Annie Blake's not mad at you. He's just really frustrated with himself." Caleb said. "I don't know exactly what it's like to be in an abusive relationship, but after hearing about what really happened I did some research."

"I'm impressed." I said honestly. 

"It said that in a lot of cases, the person being abused does love the abuser. They create an image in their mind of who they think that they're in a relationship when in reality, it's someone that hurts them. I believe that it was infatuation that you were feeling. Everyone makes mistakes Annie. Yours were just a little bigger than most."

My jaw dropped. "Caleb that's probably the smartest and most thoughtful thing that you've ever said."

He laughed lightly. "Guess I'm not as dumb as everyone thinks."

"You aren't dumb. I think you just put off this funny-guy vibe that makes everyone think you are."

"Thanks Annie."

"You should get going. Mom and dad are probably waiting."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." He began walking to the door. "Annie."

"Yeah?"

"I know that none of this is your fault, and no matter what Blake says, you aren't stupid."

I smiled as my older brother left. I never would've thought that he would turn out to be the sensible one. 

It was ironic after sleeping for a week that I was tired. I didn't realize how loud the hospital was until I was trying to sleep. 

There was the beeping of my heart monitor along with the faint beeping of others outside of my room. I heard nurses being extremely loud, and it seemed like there was always a cart rolling. 

I painfully took a deep breath before closing my eyes and trying to get some sleep. 

___________

FUN FACT: The guy that said I was pretty may or may not have held my hands and looked deeply into my eyes on Monday. We were talking about eye color and I said that mine were black (which they basically are because they're so dark). And so he came over to me and looked into my eyes trying to find my pupil. The hand holding was optional though. *violently wiggles eyebrows*

I have loved you since Chapter 18. 

Stay crocs.


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 28

***Liliana's POV***

"Got any sevens?"

"Go fish." 

Caleb reached for the card pile and drew a card. 

"Nines?"

"Go fish." 

"Got any twos?"

"Go fish." I replied. "Got any sevens?" 

"You bitch. You said you didn't have any." 

"I just drew it!"

"Yeah okay." He said as he handed me three cards. 

"Any fours?"

"What the hell Annie? First my sevens and now my fours?" 

I tried not to laugh. 

"Fives?"

"Ha bitch! Go mother fucking fish!" Caleb said loudly. "Now give me some kings."

I rolled my eyes at him and drew a card. 

"Actually you have to give me the kings." 

"Why?" he frowned.

"Because I drew a five!" I laughed and winced at the pain in my sides. 

"Man fuck go fish." He threw his cards in the air. "I don't even like fish." 

"Yes you do."

"Well I don't like this game."

"You're only upset because I win at everything."

"I beat you at Speed." 

"Because I'm playing with one hand!" 

"Hey, a win is a win." He shrugged. 

"You're such a loser." 

"Not when we play speed." 

"Can you not be a dumb ass for like three seconds in your life?"

"I did that my senior year, but it didn't get me very far." He frowned. 

"Maybe you should have focused more on school than on going to parties the other three years."

"Hey at least I had a life in high school."

"I had a life!" I defended myself. 

"Annie you literally went to school, did your work, and came home. You know what you did at home?"

"I already-"

"School work. Your only fun year was your freshman year."

"So?"

"So don't you miss your childhood?"

"Not at all."

"But what about being a wild teenager? You didn't get to party." 

"You and I both know that I partied."

"Not as much as you could've. You remember that time that we got drunk and you dressed me up like a girl?" He laughed. 

"Yeah and we went to the pharmacy."

"That lady was so confused when I asked for tampons!" He began mocking her. "Sir or uh ma'am, they're on aisle three." 

I laughed before groaning. 

"Stop it. My insides burn." 

"Why? Oh right. Sorry." He gave me a sympathetic look. "Miss Jackson. I am for real." 

"Stop!" I laughed again. "It's not 2004."

"Never meant to make your daughter cry."

"I don't have a daughter."

"And thank the Jesus for that because I'm too young to be a grandpa."

I rolled my eyes. "What is with you and this grandpa thing?"

"Grandpas are cool." He shrugged. 

"Wanna know what's even cooler?" I asked. 

"Chinese water torture?"

"What? No. I was going to say uncles."

"But your kid is going to have four uncles plus whatever brothers the other person has."

"That just means that you can be the cool uncle."

"But I wanna be the cool grandpa." He frowned. 

"My kid is not going to call you grandpa." 

"Why not?"

"Because it just doesn't work that way!"

"We can make it work that way." 

"Caleb just drop it."

There was a knock on the door before a nurse entered. 

"Hey Ms. Brooks. How are you feeling?" He asked. 

"I'm alright."

"Any pain?"

"Her ribs." Caleb said. 

"Well that's just what I came here to check. I'm also going to clean your stitches." 

He pulled the blanket back from my lap. 

"Let's lift this gown up." He said as he reached for the fabric. "Hold this up." 

My left hand held the fabric at my chest. I looked down and saw the stitches that were a few inches above my belly button. I was still bruised pretty badly. 

"Wow." I heard Caleb gasp quietly. 

"Is that gonna leave a scar?" I asked. 

"Most likely. There's some things that you can put on it to help it go away once it's healed."

He gently wiped the wound with a small sponge before applying some sort of cream to it. 

"Let's take a look at those ribs." He said after he replaced the bandage on my stomach. 

"Look away Caleb." I said. 

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to see my boobs." 

"But I wanna see your ribs." He frowned. 

"Just look away!"

He groaned before slapping a hand over his eyes and turning in the chair. 

The nurse took my good arm out of the gown and rested it on my bad one. 

I looked at my bruised torso and frowned. 

"Can I ask you something?" I spoke. 

"Sure." He said as he began feeling some places. I winced slightly. 

"Shouldn't I be traumatized or something? Like shouldn't I be having nightmares, start crying, or having flashbacks, or something? Anything?"

"Most patients are, but there are a select few that have the mental will power to not let it control them. They find something that helps them cope with physical and emotional pain."

"So I'm not crazy?"

"Not in the slightest."

That was a relief. It wasn't like I didn't feel sad about what happened or it wasn't awful, but I just wasn't completely ruined by it. 

"The bruising looks bad still, but I think it's starting to heal in some places. After you have lunch, I'll get some painkillers to you." 

He began putting my gown back on my body and pulled the blanket up. 

"Thank you." I said as he walked away. 

"That was awful." Caleb said. 

"I told you not to look!" 

"I wanted to see your ribs. I promise that I didn't look at your tits." 

"Caleb."

"Okay I saw them, but not on purpose. And it's not like I liked them. I was just looking at your ribs. I swear."

"Fucking dumb ass."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to know how bad you got hurt."

"You could've just looked at the rest of me. Is the broken nose and bruised face not enough to tell how bad I got hurt?"

"I'm sorry. You're my baby sister and I just wanted to know what was going on."

"It's fine. It's just weird that you've seen my boobs."

"It was more of a glance if that makes you feel any better."

"Just shut up." I laughed lightly. 

"Blake asks about you." He said suddenly. 

"What?"

"Every time I get back to the hotel he asks how you are."

"Then why hasn't he come to see me? I've been awake for four days."

"He hates that he didn't and couldn't do anything to help, and he's still really pissed off at you."

"I know I'm an idiot."

"You aren't. This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is. I deserve what happened. Blake was right. I shouldn't have stayed with Alex. I should've tried harder to get away." I closed my eyes and a tear slid down my cheek. 

"Liliana Marie Brooks don't you ever say that." Caleb said sternly. "I don't care what you did or didn't do. No one deserves what happened to you. You especially didn't deserve it."

But I did. It was my own fault that I was hurt. 

"Annie." He said. "This isn't your fault."

"Can we play uno?"

"Not until you say it's not your fault."

"Caleb."

"Annie."

"It's not my fault." I said even though I felt differently. 

"You're lying."

"Because it's my fault."

"Annie listen to me." He said grabbing my good hand. "You did not deserve this. This is not your fault. You're a good person and nothing that you could do gives anyone the right to hurt you in any way. The only way it would be your fault is if you did this to yourself."

"Caleb."

"No. You look me in the eye and tell me that you did this to yourself and I'll drop it."

"I didn't do it."

"Then it's not your fault. Blake is a dumb ass that needs to learn that he's not always right."

"Hug me gently." I said quietly. 

"What?"

"You're being a good brother and I want a hug, a very very gentle hug."

He smiled before standing up and barely touching me. 

"Thanks Sandwich. I really needed that."

"The hug or the pep talk?"

"Both."

He sat down in the chair again and picked up some cards off of the floor. 

"Blackjack?" He suggested. 

"What are we betting?"

"I can go get some gummy bears from the vending machine."

"Skittles too."

"Alright. I'll be right back." He said as he got up and left the room. 

I closed my eyes leaned back on my pillows. Having the nurse touch my ribs made me sore, and I was in dire need of some medication. 

I heard footsteps walk into my room. 

"That was fast." I sat back up and opened my eyes. "Oh."

"Just an oh?" Ashton asked with a frown. 

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling?" 

"Sore." I sighed. "Broken ribs suck. And I think that the medicine they have me on causes an extreme craving for Ashton cuddles."

He smiled at me. "I wish I could give them to you."

"Me too."

"I got three packs of skittles and three packs of gummy bears. You ready to lose all of them?" Caleb said as he walked through the door. "Oh."

"Am I that disappointing?" Ashton joked. 

Caleb said yes at the same time I said no. 

"No." I said again as I looked toward Ashton. "We'll just have to deal you in."

As caleb pulled another chair beside my bed, he sighed and began shuffling the cards. 

"Ash can you open the gummy bears?" I asked as I handed him a package. 

"Sure thing. What exactly are we playing?"

"Blackjack." 

I poured the gummy bears onto the table that stretched across my bed and began separating them. 

"Are we playing colors or numbers?" I asked my brother. 

"Numbers."

I gave each of us fifteen as Caleb dealt the cards. 

I got twenty one with the first two cards that I was dealt. 

"Hit it or stay?" Caleb said. 

"Stay." Ashton and I said. 

"Well I'm going to hit because some of us actually know how to have fun." He laid down a card in front of himself. "Well shit."

"I'll bet three." I said pushing three red ones to the middle. 

"I see your three and raise you one." Ashton smirked. 

I put another one in and waited for him to flip his card over. 

"Nineteen." He smiled. 

"Twenty one." I grabbed the gummy bears from the center. 

"That was just lucky." 

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Annie is just super good at this." Caleb told him. 

"We'll just have to see about that." Ashton said as Caleb dealt another round of cards. 

@@@@@@

***Ashton's POV***

"All of your gummy bears, your skittles, and your keys. Is it still luck?" Lily smirked at me. 

"Yep." I lied. When we switched to five card draw, everything went downhill for me. 

"Ashton I won your keys on a pair of twos." 

"Hey! I only folded because you looked like you meant business."

She started singing Poker Face. 

"Well now that you have my keys does that mean you're going to stay at my place when you get out of here?"

"Not a chance boss man." Caleb spoke up. "She's coming back home."

"What?" She asked with wide eyes. 

"You didn't think that we would let you stay out here after all of this, did you?"

"It was my decision to move out here and it's my decision if I want to stay or not." She looked at me. "And I do."

"Annie I just want you to be safe. The whole family does."

"You, mom, and dad are the only ones that have come to see me."

"I don't know whats wrong with Jake and Lance. They're just little douche nuggets." He shrugged. 

"Yeah, so I'm not going to be miserable at home just because you three are worried about my wellbeing."

"We'll talk later." 

There was a knock on the door before a man in green scrubs walked in. 

"Hey you." Liliana smiled at him. 

"I told you I was good for more than painkillers. I brought you lunch this time too." He replied. 

"Is there pudding?"

"Chocolate."

"Maybe you are good for something." 

Were they flirting?

"I'm good for a lot of things." He winked at her. 

I clenched my jaw to keep from saying anything rude. 

"Sure you are."

He hooked a new bag into her IV and hung it on the stand. 

"Sorry to break up your game, but I need the table." He sat down a tray. 

"It's okay. I already won." She smiled.

"You're on a very low dose of OxyContin. Just be sure to eat, okay?"

"Okay." She looked up at him. 

"I'll see you later." He winked and left the room. 

"What the hell was that?" Caleb said what I was thinking. 

She laughed lightly. "Honestly just an inside joke." 

"Please enlighten me." 

"If I did that then it wouldn't be an inside joke." She grabbed the pudding from the tray. "Anyone want this?" 

"No you should eat it." I told her. 

"She doesn't like pudding." Caleb said as he grabbed the bowl from her. 

"You don't?"

"Nope. I don't like the texture of it." 

"I know. She's weird." Caleb said through a mouth full of pudding. 

"Anyone want this sandwich?" She asked. 

Caleb took it from her hand. "Doesn't like tomatoes."

"What are you going to eat?" I asked as I looked at her almost empty tray. 

"I'll eat these peaches." She answered. 

"Lily you need to eat more than peaches." 

"I'm not hungry."

"Lily I can get you some food if you want."

"I don't."

I frowned at her. 

"I like apple sauce." She finally said. 

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Megan.

"Irwin Incorporated, Megan speaking. How can I help you?"

"Megan bring some applesauce to North Los Angeles Hospital."

"Why the hospital?"

"I don't pay you to ask questions. Call me when you get here." I said before hanging up the phone. 

"Feisty." Caleb said. "I like it."

"Apple sauce is on the way." I smiled. 

"Ash you didn't have to do that."

"But I did."

"And you didn't have to."

"Lily just let me do nice things for you." I whined like a little kid. 

"You're supposed to use your powers for good, not evil."

"Who said you're evil?"

Caleb raised his hand. "She may be my little sister, but she is evil."

"I am not!" She said defensively. 

"Annie, you told mom that I snuck out to go to a party just because I supposedly interrupted your date with Tanner." 

"You threw a frog on us when we were kissing!"

"You shouldn't have been kissing him in the first place!"

"It wasn't that big of a deal." 

"He was eighteen!" 

"So?" She shrugged. 

"So you were only fourteen. That's like illegal or something."

"We didn't actually do anything."

"Still."

"Caleb you're an idiot I swear."

"I had to do the dishes for two weeks! And I had to clean your room. For a girl, you're really disgusting."

"I just have a bunch of clothes. That's not my fault."

"We counted and you have one hundred and fifty pairs of shoes. Who even needs that many?" 

"I like shoes. That's not a problem."

"But you only wear Converse, Vans, and a few pairs of heels for work." I spoke up. 

"But you never know what kind of occasions can come up where you'll need different types of shoes."

"Is it weird that you guys are like friends and you work together?" Caleb asked. 

We looked at each other and then back at him.

"I don't think so. It was a little weird at first, but now I don't really think of him as my boss." 

I was about to add to that when there was a knock at the door. 

"Come in." Caleb sang. 

I heard heals clicking on the floor before Megan appeared. 

"You were supposed to call." I said. 

"I know. I just wanted to see how Annie was doing." She replied. "When I found out about what happened I was so worried about her."

I heard Liliana sigh heavily and she rolled her eyes. 

"How are you feeling Annie?" Megan asked. 

"Great. Thanks for asking." Annie replied with a fake smile.

They always seemed fine before, but now they were acting so fake. What happened? 

______________

FUN FACT: I don't like pudding. It makes me gag every time I eat it. I don't even wanna think about it. Ew. 

Love you and sorry sorry sorry for making you wait. 

Stay crocs.


End file.
